Thor Heyerdahl’s Ra2
Credit: Wikipedia

Reminiscent of Thor Heyerdahl’s papyrus reed boat that sailed 4,300 miles from South America, makers of the new Toyota 1/X being showcased at the Melbourne Motor Show this week are also thinking of a lightweight floating material – seaweed!

“The 1/X concept is a vehicle that completely redefines what it means to be environmentally considerate. The name says it all: a car that weighs a fraction of the others in its class today and uses a fraction of the fuel” – David Buttner, senior executive director of sales and marketing.

They’re thinking past 2020, but one day cars like the 1/X may be made of plant-based plastic, eco plastics.

The hybrid Toyota 1/X
The future’s seaweed car?
Credit: Wired

At first, it just sounds like another petroleum-based by-product, but when they add that ‘eco’ prefix to it, we can only hope it will bring on a whole new meaning to ‘hybrid’. Since seaweed is a resilient plant like kudzu and has strength like kevlar in some cases, they may just be on to something!

MIT students develop
energy-harvesting
shock absorbers
Credit: MIT

A team of MIT undergraduate students have invented a shock absorber that harnesses energy from small bumps in the road, generating electricity while it smoothes the ride more effectively than conventional shocks. The students hope to initially find customers among companies that operate large fleets of heavy vehicles. They have already drawn interest from the U.S. military and several truck manufacturers.

Their prototype shock absorbers use a hydraulic system that forces fluid through a turbine attached to a generator. The system is controlled by an active electronic system that optimizes the damping, providing a smoother ride while generating electricity to recharge the batteries or operate electrical equipment.

They received a patent for their technology and formed Levant Power Corp., especially after calculating that a large company – such as Wal-Mart – could save $13 million a year in fuel costs by converting its fleet of trucks.

“we wanted to figure out where energy is being wasted in a vehicle,” MIT senior Zack Anderson explained.

I know I would’ve given them a shot with the jeeps I’ve had before, but romping through the Francis Marion Forest is a thing of the past for me now.

Anyway, those MIT people are something else – good luck!