Saturday, October 02, 2010 2:14:46 AM
Canadian firms plan to try to make car from hemp
CAPTIONBy Cate Gillon, Getty Images
Now if your car breaks down and you're stuck by the side of the road, you can try to break off a piece and smoke it.
Well, not really. But the thought -- and the jokes -- are sure to arise over the hemp-fiber car that a group of Canadian companies will try to make, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports.
The companies are collaborating on a car called the Kestrel that will have a body made of resin-impregnated industrial hemp, a tough fiber that comes from the cannabis family member that also results in marijuana. Unlike marijuana, hemp has a very low content of THC, the chemical that makes dope smokers high. Even so, it's illegal to grow in the U.S., so the Canadians think they might have an edge.
It's not a completely new idea. That Lotus Eco Elise from 2008, shown above, also has a hemp body.
The compact electric Kestrel will be prototyped and tested later by Calgary-based Motive Industries.
The CBC says Henry Ford first built a car made of hemp fiber and resin more than half a century ago.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/canadian-firms-plan-to-try-to-make-car-from-hemp/1
Canada's Cannabis Car
By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Published August 24, 2010 | TheCarConnection.com
Motive Industries
Motive Industries' Switch prototype used bio composite similar to the Kestrel
As we're faced with an increasingly large world population and ever-dwindling resources the race is on to produce cars that not only produce zero tailpipe emissions, but ones that are green to manufacture too.
But what is the ultimate material for cars? Steel is strong, but hardly light enough to make ultra-efficient vehicles. Many plastics are based on oil, and composite materials like carbon fibre are difficult and costly to manufacture and repair.
Enter the Kestrel. Designed and engineered by Motive Industries, a Canadian firm based in Alberta, the fully electric car features a body shell made of hemp--which may be better known as Cannabis Sativa L.
The hemp for the Kestrel's body is grown by Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) under license from the Canadian government.
Unlike the cannabis Californians may find available at their local medical marijuana dispensaries, hemp grown by AITF ends up on a production line, where it is turned into a composite material that has the impact resistance of fiberglass.
But unlike fiberglass, the hemp bio-composite is cheaper to produce and has fewer health risks connected with its manufacture. It is also significantly lighter than glass-based composites traditionally used in racing cars.
There are few details about the electric drivetrain in Motive Industries' Kestrel, but the car's designer Darren McKeage explained that the four-seat compact vehicle was designed around some core ideals:
"Electric Cars need to be efficient, therefore the Kestrel design had to be simple (minimized part count) and light weight, while still being unique and eye catching."
Using composite materials to produce a car isn't a new idea. In the resource-poor East Germany of the 1950s, enterprising engineers designed a car whose body panels were made entirely from Duroplast, a composite material containing plastic, cotton and wool.
While the Berlin Wall may have fallen years ago, thousands of Duroplast-bodied Trabants have survived all over the former east block. Duroplast proved so hard-wearing that scientists later had to engineer Duroplast-eating bacteria to dispose of the cotton-based panels.
While hemp-based body panels may not form the basis for next year's electric cars, they do offer an interesting peek into the future of electric car building. More and more composite non-metallic materials will be used, to save every ounce of weight to improve range and efficiency.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1048576_electric-pot-car-from-canada-creates-big-bong-in-ev-world
http://www.motiveind.com/
Motive Industries Inc
Unit 15
4511 Glenmore Southeast, Calgary, AB T2C 2R9, Canada
403-236-3133
CAPTIONBy Cate Gillon, Getty Images
Now if your car breaks down and you're stuck by the side of the road, you can try to break off a piece and smoke it.
Well, not really. But the thought -- and the jokes -- are sure to arise over the hemp-fiber car that a group of Canadian companies will try to make, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports.
The companies are collaborating on a car called the Kestrel that will have a body made of resin-impregnated industrial hemp, a tough fiber that comes from the cannabis family member that also results in marijuana. Unlike marijuana, hemp has a very low content of THC, the chemical that makes dope smokers high. Even so, it's illegal to grow in the U.S., so the Canadians think they might have an edge.
It's not a completely new idea. That Lotus Eco Elise from 2008, shown above, also has a hemp body.
The compact electric Kestrel will be prototyped and tested later by Calgary-based Motive Industries.
The CBC says Henry Ford first built a car made of hemp fiber and resin more than half a century ago.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/canadian-firms-plan-to-try-to-make-car-from-hemp/1
Canada's Cannabis Car
By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Published August 24, 2010 | TheCarConnection.com
Motive Industries
Motive Industries' Switch prototype used bio composite similar to the Kestrel
As we're faced with an increasingly large world population and ever-dwindling resources the race is on to produce cars that not only produce zero tailpipe emissions, but ones that are green to manufacture too.
But what is the ultimate material for cars? Steel is strong, but hardly light enough to make ultra-efficient vehicles. Many plastics are based on oil, and composite materials like carbon fibre are difficult and costly to manufacture and repair.
Enter the Kestrel. Designed and engineered by Motive Industries, a Canadian firm based in Alberta, the fully electric car features a body shell made of hemp--which may be better known as Cannabis Sativa L.
The hemp for the Kestrel's body is grown by Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) under license from the Canadian government.
Unlike the cannabis Californians may find available at their local medical marijuana dispensaries, hemp grown by AITF ends up on a production line, where it is turned into a composite material that has the impact resistance of fiberglass.
But unlike fiberglass, the hemp bio-composite is cheaper to produce and has fewer health risks connected with its manufacture. It is also significantly lighter than glass-based composites traditionally used in racing cars.
There are few details about the electric drivetrain in Motive Industries' Kestrel, but the car's designer Darren McKeage explained that the four-seat compact vehicle was designed around some core ideals:
"Electric Cars need to be efficient, therefore the Kestrel design had to be simple (minimized part count) and light weight, while still being unique and eye catching."
Using composite materials to produce a car isn't a new idea. In the resource-poor East Germany of the 1950s, enterprising engineers designed a car whose body panels were made entirely from Duroplast, a composite material containing plastic, cotton and wool.
While the Berlin Wall may have fallen years ago, thousands of Duroplast-bodied Trabants have survived all over the former east block. Duroplast proved so hard-wearing that scientists later had to engineer Duroplast-eating bacteria to dispose of the cotton-based panels.
While hemp-based body panels may not form the basis for next year's electric cars, they do offer an interesting peek into the future of electric car building. More and more composite non-metallic materials will be used, to save every ounce of weight to improve range and efficiency.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1048576_electric-pot-car-from-canada-creates-big-bong-in-ev-world
http://www.motiveind.com/
Motive Industries Inc
Unit 15
4511 Glenmore Southeast, Calgary, AB T2C 2R9, Canada
403-236-3133
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