Eric Brandon
This amazing all-electric car has created by a team of students at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Called Luca, this unique machine is made almost entirely from recycled waste. Matthijs Van Wijk, who contributed to the development of Luca, said that the one-and-a-half-year manufacturing process was a significant engineering feat. This all-electric car is also unique asZem, which contributes to cleaning the atmosphere by absorbing CO2,keep reading!
“We wanted to look at a problem that exists today. The biggest problem is the constant amount of waste generated annually,” Lisa Van Etten said. We all collectively produce 2.1 billion tons of waste per year. But the problem is that the waste isn’t removed as fast as it’s generated. The team of students at TU/ecomotive has created this car to demonstrate that you can reuse the waste in a useful way. Is Luca really-special!? The answer is Yes.
Luca stands for, “Sustainable technology can be sexy”
The body, finish, windows, and interior are made from recycled waste, including PET bottles, hard plastic ABS and household waste. Look, Luca has a great appearance. Luca’s chassis consists of a unique sandwich panel designed by students in collaboration with several companies. Plastic gives the chassis considerable strength combined with natural fibers.
The exterior is made from plastic fished on the sea and flax fiber. There’s no paint, it’s a wrap made from pure plastics. The yellow wrap used for the exterior color of the car can be removed without leaving any residue. The side and rear windows are also made from recycled waste, and the Body panels are made of recycled-ABS plastic.
A lot of waste has been used for the interior as well. Luca has two very comfortable custom-made chairs in the front with cushions made of coconut fiber and horsehair. The fabric covers of the cushions are made from recycled PET. Luca features an infotainment system that can use your own smartphone to navigate and interact with Luca and a dashboard made of flax fibers and recycled household plastic waste.
The pure electric Luca is powered by two e-Motors that connect to a 12kW power supply and has a top speed of 90 kph. You can drive Luca from the North Sea Beach to the German Border on a one-single charge which means it has a range of up to 220 km. Luca weighs 420 kg, that’s 50% of a regular car.
“With Luca, we want to show that even for a complex machine like a car, waste is a valuable material,” Matthijs Van Wijk said. Isn’t this sustainable and sporty Luca a precious creation?
Source: TU/ecomotive
