[en] Recent Saclay experiments examining frontiers of electron scattering physics are discussed. The ground state charge distributions of ⁴⁰Ca, ⁵⁸Ni, ¹¹⁶sup(,)¹²⁴Sn, ²⁰⁸Pb have been determined to 1% in the central region of the nucleus, by extending the measurements of elastic electron scattering to momentum transfers g approx. 4 fm^-1. Inelastic scattering for the first excited states of ¹⁵²Sm and ⁵⁸Ni, covering a similar range of momentum range of momentum transfer, clearly show that high momentum transfers are also crucial for the determination of the structure of transition charge densities. All these experiments stress the need for high energy and high resolution to reach the high momentum transfers (q > 3.5 fm^-1) required for a significant comparison with microscopic nuclear theories. The measurement of the ³He magnetic form factor up to q = 5 fm^-1 has determined the location of the first diffraction minimum. With a maximum energy of 604 MeV, only the very beginning of the second diffraction maximum has been seen. A more complete determination of the magnetic form factor of ³He would require a much higher incident energy. A machine of 2 GeV would be ideally suited for the experiments on light nuclei. (orig.)