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Photo: Bart van Overbeeke/Instagram
The arm race for the best electric vehicle is heating up — and we’re not just talking about longer battery life, or having a quicker charge. A team of 32 students from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has unveiled a prototype car that captures carbon dioxide from the air as it trundles along.
That was the Tuecomotive team’s way of pushing the boundaries for their assignment: creating a carbon-neutral car (as measured across the vehicle’s entire life cycle), by way of 3D-printed parts made from recycled plastics, pineapple leather seats and polycarbonate windows instead of glass.
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The aptly named Zero Emission Mobility (ZEM), naturally, runs on an all-electric drivetrain, which inherently releases no carbon into the atmosphere as it drives. It’s a sporty two-seater with a rooftop solar panels – sort of like a cross between Tesla’s racehorses and Lightyear’s ultra-efficient EV. It also uses a combination of regenerative braking and digital mirrors to eke out some extra range.
The kicker? The ZEM is equipped with twin filters that draw carbon dioxide right out of the air. Just one caveat though: this isn’t a panacea for global warming. As it stands, direct air capture via the filters snag around 2kg of carbon for every 12,800 miles (around 20,600km) a ZEM travels.
To put that number into context, a single human’s breathing alone results in around 1kg of carbon a day. This means that it would take around a dozen cars travelling that distance to siphon off the same amount of carbon that an average tree could manage in a year.
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The students, who are seeking a patent for their filter, are dreaming bigger. They plan to increase the capacity of their carbon dioxide filter in coming years – it currently reaches capacity after around 320km of continuous driving – with the hope that it could one day be emptied out at charging stations while you tend to your EV’s charging needs.
They also hope to implement a system into the ZEM that they’ve called “bi-directional charging”. That is, using the ZEM’s battery (or excess charge from its rooftop solar panels) to power your house with green energy as and when its needed.
Said the team’s external relations manager Nikko Okkels: “We want to tickle the industry by showing what is already possible. If 35 students can design, develop, and build an almost carbon-neutral car in a year, then there are also opportunities and possibilities for the industry.”
