Snowmass Location: Rocky Mountain Institute 2317 Snowmass Creek Road Snowmass, Colorado 81654
Boulder Location: Rocky Mountain Institute 1820 Folsom Street Boulder, Colorado 80302
The Hypercar Revolution Concept
Description: While the rest of the world looks for the best green fuel...physicist Amory Lovins says the biggest part of the fuel problem has been sitting in your garage all along. The Science Channel's Eco-Tech interviews Rocky Mountain Institute chief scientist Amory Lovins, RMI Breakthrough Design Team (BDT) Team Leader, Michael Brylawski, and John Fox-Rubin of Fiberforge.
Today's cars are big, fast, and powerful, but when it comes to fuel there is something wrong with the math. Only 0.3% of a car's fuel energy ends up moving the driver.
Smarter design and technologies can radically reduce that waste without cutting vehicle size. Case in point: a maximized integrated automobile: the Hypercar Revolution — ultra-light and ultra low-drag. A lighter car would require a smaller engine, smaller powertrain, and fewer batteries. Also, lighter-weight car will accelerate better, handle better and brake in a shorter distance than a heavier car.
Light-weighting can be had with the assistance of carbon fiber and other technologies. Carbon fiber has ten times the strength of steel and weighs half as much. Fiberforge has reinvented carbon fiber technologies.
