In order to be able to correctly divide vehicles into classes, for example for mobility pricing, one must be able to clearly distinguish medium-sized from luxury cars or small cars from compact cars. But that is getting more and more difficult: In photos, an Audi A4 looks almost exactly like an Audi A6, a Mini One looks similar to a Mini Countryman. There is currently no separate procedure for this.
So far, the classes in each country have been determined by experts – largely at their own discretion. Empa researcher Naghmeh Niroomand has now developed a system that can classify cars around the world according to their dimensions. Purely mathematical and fair. Thanks to her, the current classification by experts could soon be a thing of the past. At the same time, car classes around the world could be compared more easily and more objectively. After all, a “mid-range car” is different in Italy than it is in the USA.
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