Green is for speed
Motor racing isn’t only about fast cars, glamorous locations and dashing drivers, it’s also a laboratory for vehicle technologies. Eco One is an environmentally friendly racing car from the Warwick Manufacturing Group, based at the University of Warwick. Eco One demonstrates that green high performance doesn't compromise on speed.

The creation of the eco-friendly racer grew out of the 2006 Warwick Formula Student competition. Project manager Ben Wood's research area is high performance biodiesel. He says, 'The problem with completely replacing fossil fuels in high performance cars is that there's not enough arable land available [to grow biofuel crops], but in motorsport you can make a difference by making a big change in a small area.'  

Advanced sustainable materials
The team researched and applied the most technologically advanced sustainable materials available. Eco One uses tyres, bodywork, brake pads, lubricants and fuel made from natural, renewable materials.  The chassis is made from recyclable steel and aluminium.  The car can go from 0 to 62mph in under four seconds and can go on to a top speed in excess of 140mph.

But, says Wood, 'it's not very easy to find environmentally friendly components because people perceive them to be inferior. We put a lot of research into the bodywork, which is built from hemp fibre and rape seed oil resin. About 1.5 per cent of the tyre normally uses fossil fuels with harmful emissions when disposed of and that's just to make the tyre sticky and grip to the road. Potato starch and maize starch are very sticky as well so you can replace the petrochemical products with a more eco-friendly version. The tyres are actually made by Goodyear.'

Reduced greenhouse gases
The bodywork for Eco One was designed and built with Ecocats in Cornwall. Ecocats make environmentally friendly boats and specialise in plant composite bodywork using non-toxic hemp material as an alternative to the extremely toxic carbon fibre method. The engine is redesigned to run on 85 per cent bioethanol fuel produced from plant starch, which reduces carbon emissions.

‘We already have the shell, brake pads, fuel and tyres sorted,’ Wood explains, ‘My aim is to end up with a racing car that’s 95 per cent biodegradable or recyclable. If we can build a high performance car that can virtually be grown from seed, just imagine what’s possible for the average family car.’ Now that would be thrilling indeed.