An electric cargo trike concept by EOOS NEXT offers a solution to plastic waste. The trike is called the Zero-emission Utility Vehicle, or ZUV, and the chassis was 3D printed from plastic waste from supermarkets, New Atlas reports.
The Austrian social enterprise/industrial design studio sought out to create an e-mobility concept with a chassis produced locally and economically.
A research and design studio, Rotterdam’s The New Raw, took about 154 pounds of recycled plastic raw material and turned it into the chassis using industrial 3D-printing robots. However, EOOS NEXT added plastic rotational molding could be used.
The ZUV seats two and includes a storage box, which can be strapped on. The trike measures 62 x 190 x 55 centimeters and weighs approximately 220 pounds. Net weight can be as heavy as 661 pounds.
The three-wheel design was a choice to accommodate riding on city streets or well-worn paths. An unspecified hub motor can be found on the rear wheel which allows the trike to travel at 15.5 miles per hour and the battery allots for a per-charge range of 31 miles. The possibility for installing a more powerful motor exists as well.
A handlebar column sits in the middle of the trike and steers the front wheels. Each wheel is equipped with disc braking and thick tires. Tube lighting can also be found in the front and rear of the chassis.
This concept could help the environment by saving large amounts of plastic waste from being dumped on land and in water. A study estimated 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste could accumulate on lands and in oceans by the year 2040.
