The environmental impact of a car is not only determined by its consumption, but just as much by its production and eventual recycling. Students from TU Eindhoven therefore developed a car optimised on all these aspects. The result is Noah, an ultra-light electric-powered prototype based on flax fibre and sugar, with a consumption equal to 1:300. Noah was recently shown at the Suikerunie in Dinteloord. The student team, TU/ecomotive, is now taking it on a European tour to inspire others.
Low overall weight
Noah is an electric city car with two comfortable seats and a spacious boot, a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour and a range of 240 kilometres. The expected consumption in city traffic, is about equal to 1 litre of petrol for 300 kilometres. This is partly due to its low weight. Noah, without batteries, weighs 360 kilos, which is less than half of comparable production cars. The car needs only 60 kilos of batteries, where production electric cars lug hundreds of kilos of batteries, and the low overall weight - 420 kg - leads to particularly good handling. The prototype will soon go to the RDW to be admitted to road traffic.
Not Spartan
TU/ecomotive is a TU Eindhoven student team that invents and builds a new sustainable car every year. "This year's goal was to show that it is possible to make a car that has low environmental impact over its entire lifetime, without being Spartan," the press release reads.
Sugar and flax
A special feature in Noah is the use of a bioplastic that can be made from sugar. The chassis and interior are of particularly strong sandwich panels made of this bioplastic and of flax fibre. The body is made of flax mats injected with a bio-based resin. These organic and particularly lightweight materials require up to six times less energy in production than the usual lightweight materials in the automotive industry, such as aluminium or carbon. Still, they achieve the required strength, say the students, and it is also possible to use them to make a structure that acts as a crumple zone. The flax used is a common intermediate crop, a crop needed to enrich the soil. Its cultivation therefore does not compete with food production.
Resource
At the end of its life, the biocomposite can be ground up and used as a raw material for other products, such as building blocks. The non-organic parts of the car can join the existing recycling chain. The team's comparisons show that there is no other drivable car that has an equally low environmental impact over its lifetime, not even a prototype. "We have made sure that every nut and bolt is recyclable," Cas Verstappen, the team's public relations manager told NowThisFuture. "For every screw in this car, we already have the complete lifecycle analysis: where it comes from and where it can go after use in this car."
Awareness
The team will visit European car manufacturers, suppliers and universities, among others, over the summer months with the car. The students have no plans to market the car, they are concerned with "raising awareness", says team member Cas Verstappen, undergraduate student Automotive Technology at TU/e. "We want to show that a circular economy is already possible in complex products like a car." He does not expect similar cars to hit the market right away, but he sees the use of bioplastic panels in the structural parts and interior as a real option. Not only because of its durability, but also because it is strong and light.
Source: TU Eindhoven
Photo: Bart van Overbeeke
