While various strategies are underway to address the ongoing energy crisis in the realm of automotive production and energy use, Filipino product designer Kenneth Cobonpue and Albrecht Birkner have devised a truly unique solution, introducing the world's first biodegradable car, the Phoenix.
While we all love to see and read about the latest marvel out of Maranello, or gaze longingly at the newest exotic supercar emerging from Stuttgart, the fact is the majority of these automotive works of art are expensive, often prohibitively so; they require mass amounts of resources, often non-renewable, and do little to really address the ongoing problem that emerges when the waste left behind by any car outlives its purpose.
Enter product designers Kenneth Cobonpue and Albrecht Birkner with the world’s first bamboo and rattan biodegradable car, dubbed the Phoenix. The Phoenix was built in 10 days, comprised of bamboo, rattan, steel, and nylon. The length of the biodegradable car measures 153 inches long and is a small solution to a big problem; the waste created by old cars that outlive their purpose. According to Mr. Cobonpue, “this project attempts to unveil the future of green vehicles using woven skins from organic fibers mates to composite materials and powered by green technology.”
On average, a person keeps a car for 5 years in industrialized countries, 10-20 elsewhere, and with that in the mind the Phoenix’s biodegradable skin is designed to meet those needs while not outliving its purpose. Interestingly, the skin of the vehicle can be replaced inexpensively if the owner wishes to keep their car longer, and the frame of the Phoenix can be easily customized to meet the needs of its customers. As of now there is no word on exactly what will power the Phoenix, but an all-electric setup would seemingly be small enough to power this little work of art.
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