2013 Audi A3

Chocolate-powered race car capable of reaching 145mph

 
4 5,283 views Apr 22, 2009

The ecoF3 has a steering wheel made from carrots, a body made of potatoes and a seat made of soybeans

The ecoF3 has a steering wheel made from carrots, a body made of potatoes and a seat made of soybeans

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As bizarre it may sound a university team in the UK has developed an eco-friendly race car designed to run on chocolate and vegetable oil. The new race car is the ecoF3 from WorldFirst, a small team from Warwick University in the UK, which envisages the car – or at least some of its technologies – one day being used in a FIA-sanctioned motorsport competition.

The ecoF3 has a steering wheel made from carrots, a body made of potatoes and a seat made of soybeans. Vegetable fibres derived from the produce are mixed with resins to form many of the components, while oils sourced from chocolate and other plant-based materials are refined to produce fuel and lubricants.

The WorldFirst team has used a F3 chassis design for its race car, though the car and its engine fails to meet current FIA regulations.

Speaking with the Telegraph, a spokesman from the team said the backers of the project hope “Formula One teams will see that an environmentally friendly car is not necessarily a slow car.” According to WorldFirst’s own results, the ecoF3 is capable of speeds of up to 145mph but no other numbers of independent figures have been released.



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Comments (4)

  1. ma_mburleigh8 avatar mburleigh8 Posted: 4/22/2009 8:53pm PDT

    With the way girls like chocolate, they may have made the first real true chick magnet.
     
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  2. ma_Chris avatar Chris Posted: 4/23/2009 3:11am PDT

    hah, true true... but something tells me the chocolate (based) fuel probably wouldnt taste too good... its probably some sort of distilled chocolate liqueur... mmmmmmmmmmmm.... chocolate liqueur...

    SAE world congress this week. no time to talk!
     
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  3. ma_Roy avatar Roy Posted: 4/23/2009 9:47am PDT

    Given the price of chocolate these days, I don't think the headline is the important piece of this story. The important part is that they have an engine with enough flexibility to deal with fats and oils from a variety of sources (or even sauces).
    I will wait to see the crash test results and remind everyone that things mixed with resins do not necessarily biodegrade, meaning the benefits of constructing the body out of vegetable fibers are not super-obvious.
     
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  4. ma_justinhk2000 avatar justinhk2000 Posted: 4/23/2009 2:40pm PDT

    Please actually red the text chris, it says oil sourced from chocolate, not actual chocolate.
     
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