A group students from the technical department at the University of Eindhoven have built a fully functioning electric car from waste materials. The group of 22 students involved in the build, known as TU/ecomotive, used plastics rescued from the sea, recycled PET bottles and household rubbish.
The bright yellow car that has been named Luca is a sporty styled two seater that has a top speed of 56mph (90kph) with a range up to 137 miles (220km) from a full charge. The project took 18 months to complete.
The students used hard plastics often found in kitchen appliances, televisions and toy were used to create the car’s body. Inside, the seat cushion were created largely from coconut and horse hair.
Lisa van Etten, project manager, said: “This car is really special because it’s made out of waste. Our chassis is made out of flax and recycled PET bottles. For the interior we also used unsorted household waste.”
Matthijs van Wijk, production team member Matthijs van Wijk, said: “We really hope that car companies will start using waste materials. It’s possible in many applications. More and more companies use waste or bio-based materials in the interior. We want to show that it’s also possible to build a chassis out of it.”
