KUALA LUMPOR, MALAYSIA - A wood electric car took home the Eco-Design Award at the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia held earlier this month.
The UrbanConcept car was designed by students from the Universiti of Sains Malaysia. Dubbed the "Vagabond," the wood electric car is made of plywood and features a rattan chair for the driver. It was one of 119 student entries in the annual fuel efficiency competition sponsored by Shell.
David Chew, a mechanical engineering student featured in the accompanying video, said the Vagbond is capable of achieving speeds up to 50 mph, though it was being capped at 30 mph to comply with the competition's safety rules.
Chew said his team chose to use plywood instead of fiberglass or other mateirals because it is light weight, durable and biodegradable.
Rich Christianson is Associate Publisher and Editor at Large of Woodworking Network. During his 25+ years covering the wood products industry, Rich has toured hundreds of manufacturing plants throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His reporting has covered everything from the state of the industry and impact of wood imports to technology and environmental issues. In his current capacity he is responsible for editing the daily Woodworking Network Update newsletter and coordinating events including the annual Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and Canada’s biennial Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo.
Comments (0) Leave a comment