Hemp is known as a potential green solution from building materials to replacement of plastics. The automotive industry is now seeing value in the green plant. In fact, a car entirely made from hemp would save a lot of non-renewable materials.
Although 95% of the material used to build a car can be recovered, according to the World Economic Forum, they are not eco-friendly. Many customers would like to see cars become more sustainable. Moreover, cars are not always used to their full potential.
The fuel to power cars is a primary source of these emissions and the shift to electric power has not been large enough to draw back the greenhouse effect.
Some companies are now considering greener alternatives to produce cars. And that includes: cannabis.
In fact, Porsche recently released a race model with woven hemp standing in for carbon fiber in their body plates.
Aptera Motors, a startup specialized in high-efficiency vehicles, has developed a three-wheeled vehicle that can transport two people, and uses a solar array that can be supplemented with more solar panels on the hood and rear hatch to extend the car’s range to 1,000 miles (around 1600 km).
Solar-powered vehicles built from carbon, Kevlar and hemp are actually being reserved from an automaker in San Diego, which expects to go into production by the end of 2021.
8,000 people have already paid a deposit on the vehicle which will be sold between $26,000 to $46,000, depending on features. The price is much lower than its two other competitors, the Tesla Model 3 and Lucid Air, sold for $36,000 and $77,400, respectively, according to International Business Times.
Aptera is currently building a factory in San Diego. Cofounders expect sales of 2,000 vehicles per year for the first year, with a goal of 20,000 per year as they develop a fleet of models.
