Toyota's New Body Material: Seaweed
No, that’s not an error in the title, Toyota is really looking for ways to use seaweed to make body panels for cars. While this may sound a bit far-fetched, it is grounded in solid science, and the above pictured Toyota 1/X Concept could be have parts made out of seaweed within ten years.
What makes this possible is bioplastics. Traditional plastics are created using petroleum-derived substances, but bioplastics are made using organic substances. This allows manufacturers to take an organic substance like seaweed and break it down to its basic components. The dominant type of bioplastic made today, approximately 50% of the market, is created using starch from plants. Also, bioplastics have already penetrated into regular consumers lives without most people even knowing it. As demand grows for more eco-friendly materials, the production of bioplastics has escalated. An estimate published in USA Today says that within 5 years bioplastics will constitute 10% of the world’s annual plastic production.
So if there is already a lot of bioplastics out there, why not make a car with them now? Well, the problem is that the current round of bioplastics haven’t advanced enough to meet the safety standards for automobiles. These plastics are fine for making water bottles and cell phone casings, but they’re not strong enough yet to trust your life with. Its not too far away though. The body of the Toyota 1/X Concept is made of carbon fiber that is reinforced by plastics.
What will a car made out of bioplastics be like? Well, it’d definitely be the most green car around. Let’s examine the 1/X concept for a moment. The 1/X is a plug-in hybrid powered by an electric motor and a small 0.5-liter engine. Interior space is comparable to that of a Prius, even though the 1/X weighs one third what the Prius does. Combine that light weight with the electric motor, and the 1/X will be able to go farther and faster purely on electricity. Once the seaweed-based bioplastics are implemented, the 1/X will retain its lightweight and actually become more affordable to the average consumer. That’s because the production of bioplastics requires approximately 30% less energy than the production of regular plastics. Less energy to produce equals a lower cost for the consumer. As an added bonus, production of bioplastics produces around 60% less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional plastic manufacturing.
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It will take a few years for all of this to happen, but considering how far reaching and paradigm-breaking Toyota’s strategy seems to be, you can expect to see a lot of exciting things from the Toyota automaker in the near future.
