It would be an impressive paradigm shift – if cars grew on fields in future rather than being produced on assembly lines. Granted, it sounds utopian, but all the same: students from the University of Technology used large quantities of plant materials to create their car, which is thoroughly roadworthy ...
On 17 May students from Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) presented a car made of bio-composite. The car, ‘Lina’, has been designed and built by a student team of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The special thing about this car is that the chassis, bodywork and the interior of the car are all made of natural materials.
The team wants to show that the car is not only energy-efficient but has also been produced with a view to sustainability. The super-efficient consumption of the city car is down to its low weight of just 300 kilograms. The car is certified by the Netherlands Vehicle Authority as roadworthy and is suitable to carry four people.
TU/ecomotive has used a combination of bio-composite and bio-plastic for the chassis. The honeycomb structure bio-plastic, or PLA, is used as the core material and is manufactured entirely from sugar beet. It is enveloped in bio-composite sheets that have been composed on the basis of flax, a plant that is also grown in the Netherlands. In terms of its strength-weight ratio, the bio-composite is comparable with the familiar fiberglass but manufactured in a sustainable way. The bodywork is also flax-based.
