World's fastest highways may not have speed limit any time soon. Thank EVs

Germany's Autobahns or national highways are renowned for allowing vehicles to go to absolute speed limits as there is no real legal limit prescribed. And while there have been calls in the recent past to ensure a reasonable speed limit, the advent of electric cars may mean that the status quo is maintained.

Volker Wissing, Germany's Transport Minister, believes that there is not much sense in dictating to citizens what speed they should be driving on Autobahns at. “The pace is the personal responsibility of the citizens, as long as others are not endangered. The state should hold back here," he was quoted as saying by the German media. "The high energy prices are already causing many people to drive more slowly. And with e-cars, people won’t drive as fast because they want to save their batteries."

E-cars or electric vehicles or EVs can extract a higher range when being driven at a constant pace and without sudden throttle thrusts. Experts recommend maintaining a constant speed for increasing the range. And this is what Wissing may have been referring to when he said that people won't be willing to go all out on Autobahns in such vehicles.

But while the minister may not be too keen on enforcing a speed limit, there is a growing voice among people at large that believes in the merits of it. This includes views expressed by former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel who had previously said whoever wants to test the limit of a vehicle can do so on a race track. “You have to look at the big picture. A speed limit would save almost two million tons of CO2 emissions. There are accidents in Germany that only happen because we don't have a speed limit. If you only save the life of one person, that's a no-brainer for me," he reportedly said.