Sens4Miles

Toyota wants to build a car from seaweed



Chicago (IL) - With the entire world looking for green alternatives, Toyota is in talks regarding an ultra lightweight, incredibly efficient plug-in hybrid with a body made of seaweed. The vehicle could potentially be seen in showrooms in 15 years, but it’s definitely not coming any time soon.


The concept builds on the 1/X plug-in hybrid concept that weighs in at 926 pounds. With bioplastics gaining popularity, instead of the vehicle having a carbon fiber body, it would instead be composed of plastic made from seaweed. Toyota believes this is a practice that will begin to catch on with other manufacturers.

Bioplastics are currently being utilized for many things, cellphone cases and gift cards being among those items. According to USA Today, in five years it is expected that demand will increase to 50 billion pounds annually, which would account for 10 percent of the world's plastic market. Bioplastic production requires the use of 30 percent less energy than the production of petroleum-based plastics.

Even though you want be able to see the algae car, Toyota will be showing off three of its awesome hybrids- the next generation Prius, a new Camry concept, and the 1/X which is named for its significantly reduced carbon footprint- at the Melbourne Motor Show.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41551/178/

Big Andy

Just shows the East Germans of the Cold War were 40 years ahead of Toyota with their Trabants made of a plastic resin impregnated with cotton or wool.

nthach

Toyota's about to pull a lululemon here...

encore888

This will make me have a different perspective the next time I eat nori...

UberNoob

AHAHAHAHAAH


thats hilarious