The student team at TU / ecomotive of the Dutch University of Eindhoven presents a car made almost entirely from waste.
Humanity collectively produces 2.1 billion tons of waste annually, and to demonstrate that you can reuse this waste in a beneficial way, students at the Dutch University have developed a sporty-looking electric car called "Luca" with a base of recycled linen and plastic. A large portion has been taken out. From the ocean.
The frame, interior trim, and windows are also made from recycled materials, including water bottles, hard plastic, and household waste.
The Lucca is a compact car with two electric motors on the rear wheels, and it can reach a top speed of 90 km per hour and a working radius of 220 km.
The consumption can be converted to about 180 kilometers per liter of gasoline, in addition to the efficiency of the engines, due to its light weight, as the car weighs only 360 kilograms without batteries, and this is less than half the weight of cars of the same class.
Plus, the car only needs 60 kilograms of batteries for hundreds of kilograms for other electric cars.
Plastic from the ocean
The structure of Lucca consists of a multi-layer board developed by students in cooperation with several companies, and the outer part is made of flax fibers mixed with plastic and taken out from the perimeter.
And although this mixture has been in the ocean for several years, and consists of different types of plastics, it is able to give the structure sufficient strength when combined with natural fibers.
The core of the material is made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles.
And PET material cannot be recycled more than 10 times, so its service life can be greatly extended by using it in the car.
The body of the car is made of recycled ABS, which is a hard plastic material used in many consumer products such as toys, televisions and kitchen products.
The car gets its yellow color from an adhesive coating instead of paint, and this cover can also be removed without leaving any residue, and this leaves the plastic pure and makes the final recycling process easier.
The side and back windows are also made from recycled materials, and the recycling process instantly gives the windows a luxurious black color.
A lot of waste was also used in the interior areas, for example the Luca's cabin contains two very comfortable custom-made chairs, and the pillows are made of a mixture of coconut hair and horsehair.
The surrounding fabric is made of recycled polyethylene terephthalate, but it looks like suede.
The central console consists of a plastic additive from household waste.
Lucca's sporty, sustainable look is an example of what can be done from waste.
"With this car, we want to show that waste is a valuable material, even in complex applications like a car," says one of the team members.
With this invention, the team hopes to educate people about their consumption behavior, thus contributing to the development of the recycling economy.