Photo: TU/ecomotive
If we told you there's a prototype vehicle undergoing testing as we speak that actually removes more carbon dioxide out of the surrounding atmosphere than it emits? Would you call us liars, fools, or nincompoops? Well, friends, we urge you to keep an open mind, just this once.
Why? Well, a group of some of the Netherland's finest young minds is working on a sporty-looking, two-door coupe that does just that. It's a team of engineering students from the Eindhoven University of Technology, commonly referred to as TU Eindhoven, through their TU/ecomotive program.
Its new prototype, The Zem, is not just any old EV. It's trying its damnedest to re-invent the wheel while still having a traditional steering wheel. Now, again, none of us are scientists, but you can't help but feel like they do a fine job of putting profoundly complicated engineering into terms we average-Joes can understand.
It starts with a fairly typical undisclosed battery EV drivetrain. It is just a prototype, after all. There's plenty of room for improvement on that front. But with a frankly striking-looking body of a sports coupe, it does at least look like a car you'd actually want to drive.
Whether it can tare it up with a Toyota GR-86 that looks to have inspired its design is still yet to be seen. But none of this is what makes the Zem special. That comes in the form of a series of chemical filters mounted inside the body of the vehicle that actively captures up to two kilograms (4.4 lbs) of carbon dioxide every 20,000 miles (32,186.9 kg) before they need to be replaced and disposed of.
It all sounds far too good to be true, but in the midst of one of the worst heatwaves in recorded history currently ongoing, we think the world is more perceptive to what these engineers have to say had this not been the case.
Its new prototype, The Zem, is not just any old EV. It's trying its damnedest to re-invent the wheel while still having a traditional steering wheel. Now, again, none of us are scientists, but you can't help but feel like they do a fine job of putting profoundly complicated engineering into terms we average-Joes can understand.
It starts with a fairly typical undisclosed battery EV drivetrain. It is just a prototype, after all. There's plenty of room for improvement on that front. But with a frankly striking-looking body of a sports coupe, it does at least look like a car you'd actually want to drive.
Whether it can tare it up with a Toyota GR-86 that looks to have inspired its design is still yet to be seen. But none of this is what makes the Zem special. That comes in the form of a series of chemical filters mounted inside the body of the vehicle that actively captures up to two kilograms (4.4 lbs) of carbon dioxide every 20,000 miles (32,186.9 kg) before they need to be replaced and disposed of.
It all sounds far too good to be true, but in the midst of one of the worst heatwaves in recorded history currently ongoing, we think the world is more perceptive to what these engineers have to say had this not been the case.
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