- Title: Dutch students grow their own biodegradable car
- Date: 8th August 2017
- Summary: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS (JULY 3, 2017) (REUTERS) YANIC VAN RIEL, OF TU/ECOMOTIVE, GETS INTO PASSENGER SEAT OF LINA LINA NUMBERPLATE VAN RIEL IN CAR VARIOUS OF SUSPENSION LIFTING CAR LINA DRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANIC VAN RIEL, TU/ECOMOTIVE, SAYING: "It's made of flax, the outside is made of flax fibres, together with polypropylene. It's pressed and heated to make flat panels. In the middle you can see polylactic acid, the honeycomb structure of that material, which adds to the strength and weight savings of the sandwich panel. All structural parts of the car are made of this material." VARIOUS OF FLAX FIBRES IN VAN RIEL'S HAND VARIOUS OF HONEYCOMB POLYLACTIC ACID (PLA) STRUCTURE VARIOUS INTERIORS OF CAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANIC VAN RIEL, TU/ECOMOTIVE, SAYING: "The whole body is biocomposite and the whole structural part of the car is also from bio-based materials. Only the wheels and suspension systems are not yet of bio-based materials." LINA TAKING CORNER DRIVER'S POINT OF VIEW (POV) NOUD VAN DE GEVEL DRIVING VAN DE GEVEL'S HANDS ON WHEEL LINA DRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOUD VAN DE GEVEL, TU/ECOMOTIVE, SAYING: "So the car weighs only 310 kilograms which is really light for a car. That's why we only need 30 kilograms of batteries. And on those 30 kilograms of battery packs we can drive around 100 kilometres, which is about four times more efficient than a BMW i3 right now and that's in real city driving, so braking, stopping, accelerating, not just like the most optimal driving." VAN RIEL AND VAN DE GEVEL LIFTING BONNET AND REVEALING BATTERY VARIOUS OF VAN RIEL, VAN DE GEVEL, AND BATTERY (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOUD VAN DE GEVEL, TU/ECOMOTIVE, SAYING: "The battery packs are modular, so the 30 kilograms is split up in three packs, each weighing 10 kilograms and these can easily be swapped, so we can just take them out of the car and put new ones in them, which has an advantage over current electric cars because they always take like four or five hundred kilograms of battery packs - always. Every small little drive they take 500 kilograms. We can just take ten, go to the supermarket, and get back and still be even more efficient." VARIOUS OF MODULAR BATTERY PACKS INSIDE LINA VARIOUS OF LINA (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOUD VAN DE GEVEL, TU/ECOMOTIVE, SAYING: "We got some electronic features in this car, so we really made it futureproof. We can open our doors with NFC (nearfield communication) technology and a car will immediately recognise who is driving it. So if I'm opening it, it will save all the data from me and if someone else opens it, it will save his data. In that way we can use this car for car sharing apps, which other companies are creating. Also we have a hood system which projects the speed and all the information of the car into the front window, so we can see it through the window and still see the road, so it's more safe." LINA DRIVING HAND ON WHEEL LINA DRIVING DRIVER'S POV VAN DE GEVEL'S FACE LINA DRIVING
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2017 13:00
- Keywords: Eindhoven University of Technology TU/e Lina biocomposite car
- Location: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- City: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0016TAQGKB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Dutch students have built what they've described as the world's first car to have a biocomposite body structure.
'Lina' was designed and built by TU/Ecomotive, a student team from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
The 4-seat electric car's chassis uses a combination of bio-composite and bio-plastic. Its core material is a honeycomb structure polylactide (PLA) bio-plastic, a 100 percent biodegradable resin derived from sugar beets. The PLA honeycomb is covered by biocomposite sheets made from Dutch-grown flax.
"The honeycomb structure of the material adds to the strength and weight savings of the sandwich panel. All structural parts of the car are made of this material," explained team member Yanic van Riel.
"The whole body is biocomposite and the whole structural part of the car from bio-based materials. Only the wheels and suspension systems are not yet of bio-based materials," he added.
The biocomposite has a similar strength-weight ratio to fibreglass, allowing the car to be lightweight.
"The car weighs only 310 kilograms which is really light for a car," team leader Noud van de Gevel told Reuters. "That's why we only need 30 kilograms of batteries, which can drive around 100 kilometres, about four times more efficient than a BMW i3 in real city driving conditions."
Lina is powered by modular battery packs, with a total output of 8 kilowatts (kW).
"The battery packs are modular, so the 30 kilograms is split up in three packs, each weighing 10 kilograms and these can easily be swapped," said van de Gevel. "This gives has an advantage over current electric cars because they always take four or five hundred kilograms of battery packs wherever they drive. We can just take ten to go to the supermarket and still be more efficient."
With a top speed of around 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) Lina will be tested on public roads later this year, assuming they undergo an inspection by the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW) which would give them an official license number.
TU/Ecomotive says its prototype has the potential to slash vehicles' carbon footprint created by conventional lightweight materials used in vehicles and calls its approach to consume less energy during manufacture as "reduction during production".
Near Field Communication (NFC) technology implemented in the doors can detect and recognise different users who can gain access using a smartphone or a card with an NFC chip. The car will automatically activate each driver's personal user settings, such as playlists, frequent destinations or telephone contacts.
"Our electronic features in this car make it futureproof," said van de Gevel. "We can open our doors with NFC. If I'm opening it, it will save all the data from me and if someone else opens it, it will save their data. So we can use this car for car-sharing apps, which other companies are creating. Also we have a hood system which projects the speed and other information onto the front windscreen, while still seeing the road." - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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