Eco Factor: Lightweight car does 100mpg.
Have you ever imagined driving a car that you can carry home in case of a flat tire? I guess you haven’t, but designer Lon Ballard has designed a car called Spira that can easily be lifted by a single person, is made from 90% foam, has a top speed of 70mph and the best part is that the car can driven around 100 miles on a gallon of fuel.
With a 100cc engine, the 302-pound car seats two in tandem and since it is made from foam it can literally float on water, though we’re not sure of the performance of the 100cc car on water. The soft foam body of the car has been given some strength in the form of polycarbonate and aluminum reinforcement.
The designer also expects the car to be safe for both the driver and the pedestrians as the thousands of air pockets inside the foam structure would act as airbags in case of a crash. However, we don’t see the driver coming out alive if an SUV rolled over the Spira. If you want to try your luck in a car made from foam, you can join the company’s mailing list for production alerts.
