An electric car that captures CO2?!

A group of students at Eindhoven University of Technology have developed an electric car that is not only as carbon-neutral as possible, but also recaptures the CO2 emissions produced while driving. The university made the announcement last week when it published the results of the project on its website. Thirty-five students worked on it - from design, to development and manufacture. Now, the group says, it is ready to further improve the prototype, called "Zem", and put it on the road.  

The success of the project, according to the TU's statement, lies primarily in the special filter developed by the students themselves. This enables the e-car to capture, store and finally dispose of approximately 2 kilogrammes of CO2 per 20,000 kilometres driven per year. Ten "Zem" cars can therefore store as much carbon dioxide as an average tree. A unique development, for which the students are now ready to apply for a patent.  

Although some may not yet be convinced of the storage capacity, it is undeniable that the project already demonstrates great potential. Should "Zem" find a place on a large scale in the car market and be implemented in every passenger car, the efforts of the Eindhoven students could give a new positive impetus to the mobility world and the fight against climate change. After all, there are still a billion cars on the road in the world that could use the technology to absorb CO2 instead of emitting it. 

And that is not all. The TU students want to go one step further and further improve and optimise the prototype. The focus is not only on preparing the vehicle for road use, but also on making the entire life cycle of the electric vehicle climate-neutral. The development team attaches great importance to this. Ideally, "Zem" should not produce any carbon dioxide at all - from construction to the final recycling phase. Other innovative technologies have already come into play for this purpose. For example, 3D printers will be used to produce the monocoque and body panels. Also to be optimised are the CO2 filters, whose capacity - explains team leader Louise de Laat - should increase in the coming years.   

In the background of the student project, the hope is that their efforts would stimulate the transport sector to become more sustainable and in the process open the eyes of the car companies. "We want to tickle the industry by showing what is already possible," says Nikko Okkels, external relations manager at TU Eindhoven. "If 35 students can build an almost climate-neutral car in one year, then there are also opportunities for the industry."  

It's not a race, he says, but an invitation to collaborate. Because only large-scale collaboration between research and the automotive industry can enable the development and implementation of more sustainable mobility solutions. A step forward that - as the development of the climate emergency regrettably shows - can no longer be put on the back burner.