LONDON – Student engineers are hoping to get the automotive materials industry quite literally on the ropes with a new bio-composite for car bodies.
Their fully functioning electric car is constructed with chassis, bodywork and the interior all made of 100% recyclable natural materials, with flax as a key composite ingredient.
A team of young engineers from Eindhoven University of Technology, dubbed TU/ecomotive, this week presented their car, the Lina, to media at the Dutch embassy opposite Kensington Palace Gardens in London.
The Lina boasts a sprightly curb weight of just 661 lbs. (300 kg) and is certified by the Netherlands Vehicle Authority as roadworthy and suitable to carry four people.
TU/ecomotive used a combination of bio-composite and bio-plastic for the chassis including honeycomb structure bio-plastic, or PLA, as the core material manufactured from sugar beets. It is enveloped in bio-composite sheets composed of flax. In terms of its strength-weight ratio, the bio-composite is comparable with fiberglass. The bodywork also is flax-based.
The project is backed by Dutch automotive semiconductor specialist NXP.
NXP Vice President Olivier Cottereau tells WardsAuto funding innovation is vital for those working in the automotive industry.
Building on the team’s presentation highlighting the fact that a third of a Ford Mondeo sedan’s lifetime carbon-dioxide emissions come from its construction, Cottereau says it is imperative to reduce such energy use.
“It is a wish, at the moment, that the automotive industry will explore ways of reducing the use of energy in its products,” he says at the event. “Of course, it’s still an uncertainty because everything has to be rigorously proven in terms of crash testing and other regulatory standards that have to be complied with. Right now we have to continue to push and help innovation and show that we can improve the industry.”
However, he admits his company’s bankrolling of the student projects is not entirely altruistic.
“From an NXP standpoint, we are more into the role of electronics rather than the bodywork and chassis that would be used, but I think we would want to encourage any innovation that will help the car evolve to make our lives better.
“There are multiple benefits. On one side, we need to ensure we have the proper talents in our society to drive innovations in our changing world and also prepare students who could become good engineers with NXP. So the gift we make now can allow a return afterwards.”
The team entered the Lina in the Shell Eco Marathon 2017, which was won by a U.S. high-school team from the Saint Thomas Academy in Minnesota as the fastest qualifier before the final was canceled due to weather conditions.
About the Author
You May Also Like
