Luca: a car made largely from recycled waste

News- Today, students from TU Eindhoven will present a car made almost entirely out of waste. The materials used to create the car include household waste, used PET bottles and even plastic from the ocean

The group of 22 students constructed new materials for the car by combining the waste with flax, horse hair and coconut fibers. At the moment, new plastics are used in the creation of cars. By creating De Luca, the students wanted to prove to the auto-industry that waste can be used as a raw material

The European car industry alone is responsible for the production of nearly one million tons of plastic per year

The car is almost entirely made out of recycled waste, however the students did have to make use of some new materials. The steering wheel, pedals, electronics and windscreen are all new so as to meet safety regulations

The rest of the car is made from recycled waste. For example, the car’s exterior is made up of flax fiber and recycled ocean plastic. The chairs . are made from PET bottles and the side and rear windows are made from recycled glass. The recycling process immediately gives the windows a luxurious black tint. The car gets its yellow color from a wrap – a colored film – instead of paint. This film can also be removed without leaving any residue

The students explained that because the plastic was older than new materials, slightly more of it had to be used to achieve the required result

Luca is a compact car with two electric motors in the rear wheels. It can reach a top speed of 90 kilometers per hour and has an action radius of 220 kilometers

10/8/2020

Ref: www.www.tue.nl

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