FLEETDRIVE
Majority of a car’ s components are recyclable.
Roughly 80 per cent of an average car is recyclable. It ' s not just a car’ s sturdy parts that can be recycled. The lead in car batteries can be repurposed to make entirely new batteries. Furthermore, sulfuric acid can be extracted from these batteries and turned into sodium sulphate crystals for glass blowing.
An energy-positive, solar-powered car is in the works.
Graduate students from Clemson University, USA built a prototype that is designed to“ generate more energy than it consumes.” The prototype, called Deep Orange 17, was a collaborative project between the university, BMW, and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.
The Deep Orange 17 is equipped with 1,700 solar PV cells around the vehicle’ s exterior. Its fully integrated solar power feature is essential to its propulsion, while similar vehicles tend to sideline solar power as an additional feature.
A series of real-world test performances were conducted in the US, Germany, Spain, and India. The tests revealed that the Deep Orange 17 can generate enough power for a 50km drive on an average commute of 20km.
The world’ s oldest running car is over 140 years old.
Called“ La Marquise” in French, the world’ s oldest running car broke the Guinness World Record in 2011. Experts date the car around 1884-1885, when it was built by defunct manufacturer Trepardoux et Cie. It was originally part of a series of prototype three- and four-wheelers. La Marquise runs on coal, wood, and paper, needing steam to build up power for 30-40 minutes.
Coffee-powered cars are a thing.
It’ s not just humans who draw power from caffeine— cars can run on them too! Though this fact may sound odd, it is possible. British engineer Martin Bacon set a Guinness World Record for the“ fastest coffee-powered vehicle” in 2011 and“ longest journey by a coffee-powered car” in 2010. For the first award, he drove a P100 Ford Pick-up at the speed of 105.451 km / h powered by coffee pellets. The second record was achieved with a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco, which travelled from London to Manchester, England( 337 km).
Bacon explained it is the process of gasification that allows him to convert leftover coffee into fuel. He takes used coffee grounds and converts them into pellets. Bacon then loads these coffee pellets into the vehicle which are burned and converted into flammable gas.
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