Students enter road race with hydrogen-powered 'eco car' made of plywood and cardboard

In any normal race, the car would be disqualified instantly - not only is it made of cardboard and plywood, it's also powered by explosive hydrogen. But the Shell Eco-Marathon is a hotbed for wacky vehicles - and the plywood car, designed by students at Aston University in Birmingham, is a hot contender.

It drew up on the starting grid alongside other eco-friendly vehicles in Kuala Lumpur. 'The car we are building will be entered into the 'urban concept' category and will be powered by a Nexa Ballard Hydrogen Fuel Cell,' says the team of students behind the vehicle.

'As it's an eco-marathon, we are trying to be as sustainable as possible in the entire design of the car- making the chassis out of cardboard and plywood and using bio-resin infused fibres for body panels.' The car was built by a team of undergraduate Engineering and Design students in Birmingham, UK.

It has already won a design award in a competition against 200 design teams from 24 different universities. Their innovative car, which runs on hydrogen, has a body made from cardboard sandwiched between plywood certified by the British Forestry Commission.

Its tyre covers are made from bio-resin, infused with hessian fibres, with the whole structure collapsible for easy delivery.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2168811/Just-dont-run-Students-enter-road-race-car-cardboard.html#ixzz1zkrJZXL5