The car pictured above is made of cardboard, plywood, and a bit of metal and can fold flat package for shipping. Why does that matter? Because it costs a bunch of money and energy to ship traditional vehicles to their destinations. This lightweight recently won the Eco-Design award at Shell's 2012 Eco-Marathon in the Netherlands.
The body is comprised of cardboard sandwiched between two layers of plywood, the materials of which are certified sustainable by the British Forestry Commission. The tire covers are made of a bio resin and burlap fibers. A Nexa Ballard hydrogen fuel cell moved the cardboard and wood around the track. Christian McLening, the team's academic head, said, "The assembly offers the opportunity for the chassis to be sub-assembled so a flat-pack vehicle could be shipped in a more compact form for easy assembly at its final destination."
Some other amazing cars include France's Team Electricar Solutions EV that went 163.2 miles per kilowatt-hour and Denmark's DTU Roadrunners car that got 1,437 MPG.
[Via]