While there are many electric cars out there claiming to be sustainable and recyclable, there is still more that can be done. This is what the Italian design company Mandalaki has set out to prove with their prototype of an electric car: the Birò O2, made using a staggering eighty percent recycled plastic.
Electric Car Birò O2
Mandalaki Studio delivered the vision and the design, that was executed in close partnership with the Italian car company Estrima. Entirely in style, it was launched during the Milan design week and participated in the Ro Plastic Prize, which seeks to highlight new, innovative ways of recycling and reusing plastic. The fact that this car is more than three-fourths recycled plastic, more than any other vehicle, or so they claim, certainly qualifies as innovative.
The Birò O2 continues the legacy of the original Birò car, a fully electric vehicle for city commutes - which can fit in scooter parking spaces and has a removable battery.
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Recycled Before Production: Nothing Wasted
This original Birò model relied heavily on thick ABS plastic. This is where Mandalaki has innovated on its O2 model, which largely uses waste plastic for its body. So, a clean, green vehicle with a body that is primarily recycled (and recyclable).
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Mandalaki designer Enrico De Lotto described their vision by saying that they want to continue finding cleaner, better cars. “We try to develop projects that can have a real impact on people's lives, and not just make things that are nice to look at – projects should be functional and solve needs. [….] Fewer parts mean less plastic, fewer things to produce, less weight to move, and so on.”
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Birò O2: Recycled Road Maintenance Waste
In a rather ingenious twist, it is not just any kind of recycled plastic that they found in the local landfill. Mandalaki was fascinated by the massive amount of plastic waste generated by road maintenance crews. This includes heaps and heaps of cones and signboards. After inquiring about the possibilities of procuring those, they set about finding ways of recycling as much of it as they could.
This included a process where plastic elements were ground until nothing but a rather fine powder remained. This powder was put through a so-called rotational molding process, used to create the majority of structural parts of the car - such as front and rear components and the hatch. Other parts of the vehicle, including the seats, steering wheel, and doors, are not created using recycled plastic. Instead, thermo-formed PVC was used.
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Electric Car Birò O2: Speed And Travel Distance
While the idea of driving a car that helps solve the world’s plastic issue is a good one, it will not be sufficient for most. When driving a car, it is about more than the materials it is made out of. It is also about its top speed, its travel distance, its acceleration, and its added features. Luckily, the Birò O2 also does pretty well on those variables.
The car’s powerful engine can reach speeds of about 65 km/h, while able to drive about 100 kilometers per charge. This makes it more than a city mover, like its older brother, but already something that most of us could be happy to commute in.
Mandalaki may have put this stealthy piece of design and engineering on the market; it does not mean that they are done improving the electric car world. They are now busy working on a car that uses nothing but recycled parts.
We are revolutionizing the electric car industry, one car at a time, until we get to that ultimate zero-emission, zero-carbon car. Rock on.
Before you go!
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