This Hemp-based Race Car Is Ten Times Tougher Than Steel

Hemp is a plant that can be put to many different uses, to which we can now add the development of environmentally responsible solutions for the automotive sector. American Bruce Michael Dietzen (Florida) heads up a race car factory: Renew Sports Cars. He has always been fascinated by building the most stylish models, but this time he went a step further by integrating a new material into his designs: hemp.

This "green machine" is made of three interbedded layers of hemp, which has allowed Dietzen to develop a much lighter model. The car's body uses only 45 kilos of the ground-breaking material, which means that it consumes less fuel, making it a more eco-friendly option. It also runs on biodiesel, which gives it a much smaller carbon footprint than even electric cars.

As the manufacturer has demonstrated, hemp provides many advantages: thanks to its greater elasticity, it is at least ten times tougher than steel in response to collisions, and also features mechanical properties resembling those of glass, which make it a very light material.

Although this model is really innovative, Dieztsen is not the first to propose using this material. In fact, in 1941 Henry Ford manufactured a car using hemp, with which he hoped to make available to society a line that was cleaner and offered lower prices. The result was a vehicle that was 25% lighter than any other available at that time.

Bruce shows us, with his invention, inspired by the European racing cars of the 50s and 60s, that environmental awareness and cannabis are a perfect tandem. The manufacturer aims for his car to become a model for other companies, and for them to embark on the adventure of incorporating hemp-based raw materials into their designs.

Renew Sports Cars now plans to carry out a national tour in order to publicise its new vehicle. To this end, it has created a crowdfunding effort through which to raise funds, and also has a video of its car in action.