Hypercar ∨

GOAL

Create a breakthrough lightweight automobile allowing significant fuel savings.

CHALLENGE

Designing an efficient and viable vehicle, both from an engineering as well as a financial perspective.

METHOD

Integrated design and engineering

OUTCOME

A revolutionary concept that has been validated and is a precursor to the generation of cars being researched today.

OVERVIEW

After a century of engineering, cars are embarrassingly inefficient.

As RMI cofounder and Chief Scientist Amory Lovins has pointed out: “Of the energy in the fuel [an automobile] consumes, at least 80 percent is lost, mainly in the engine’s heat and exhaust, so that at most only 20 percent is actually used to turn the wheels. Of the resulting force, 95 percent moves the car, while only 5 percent moves the driver, in proportion to their respective weights. Five percent of 20 percent is one percent -- not a gratifying result from American cars that burn their own weight in gasoline every year.”

In 1991, RMI began work on a radically more efficient vehicle.

The team focused on combining ultra-light materials, low coefficient of drag models, and electric drive architecture into one design -- dubbed the Hypercar®. They believed this whole-systems approach would foster greater efficiency gains than pursuing any of the design objectives individually.

In the final model, structural elements and body panels were made from carbon fiber composite, creating a stiff, strong and lightweight frame.

To optimize efficiency, the engine size was reduced, leading to further weight savings. These weight savings allowed the designers to use smaller components, such as brakes, without compromising safety. As a result, the Hypercar® achieved unparalleled fuel efficiency.

Despite this radically lightweight design, the Hypercar® was designed with safety in mind.

The advanced composite structure and body panels could absorb up to five times more energy per pound in a collision. Because the Hypercar® was much lighter than conventional cars, it would also carry less momentum in crashes.

This initial research was recognized in 1993, winning the Nissan Prize for Automotive Innovation from the International Symposium on Automotive Technology and Automation.