True Sustainability

The Very Light Car: cradle-to-grave sustainability. An environmentally responsible car should be measured not just in fuel economy but by considering all environmental impacts. The low mass of the VLC means fewer material inputs are needed. Also, automobile materials vary greatly in environmental impacts. Carbon fiber is energy-intensive to produce and difficult to recycle, while batteries are laden with hazardous, scarce and heavy metals. While our X Prize cars have carbon-fiber bodies, the production models will rely mostly on readily available and fully recyclable aluminum and steel.

But the Very Light Car sets a new standard for fuel economy as well: over 100 MPGe in a car that seats four. The Very Light Car is powered by a one-cylinder, 250 cc internal combustion engine running on E85. Using a predominantly ethanol fuel boosts fuel economy using extensive exhaust recirculation, while reducing emissions and minimizing fossil fuel use.

Why the Very Light Car is not an electric vehicle. As our name implies, Edison2 originally anticipated an electric or hybrid drive powering the Very Light Car. But our studies on efficiency showed us that the benefits of regenerating energy in a low-mass vehicle were not worth the cost of added battery and component weight needed for an EV or hybrid. In other words, since the Very Light Car requires little energy to accelerate there is simply not that much energy available to recapture with regenerative braking.

While this is the case for the current X Prize racecars, Edison2 does see value in electric vehicles for certain applications.  Much of this depends on the drive cycle, range requirements, and location.