Green taxi concept wins commercial interest

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 15 Oct 2009

A concept of a green taxi, with potential for plastic electronics technologies, has garnered interest from companies looking to commercialise the design.

Industrial designer Alberto Villarreal developed the concept of a sustainable taxi in 2008 for a design competition in Mexico City, where he lives and works.

The MX-Libris taxi failed to win the government-sponsored award. However, after Villareal published the design on his website it was nominated for and won the coveted Red dot concept award, 2008.

A few months ago, in the wake of on-line post-award publicity, two companies independently contacted Villareal, to discuss developing the concept. One is a taxi distribution and management firm and the other a car body maker. Both are based in Mexico.

The MX-Libris taxi concept is a zero emissions vehicle designed for Latin American cities, taking into consideration the cultural, climate, urban demographic and transit conditions of cities on the continent.

To make the taxi energy and fuel efficient in his design Villarreal included a lightweight, flexible solar panel on the roof that could be used to provide power for some of the car's electronics and supplement the fuel cell used to run the vehicle.

Villarreal's design includes a strip of lighting that runs around the taxi's roof in a band that can be switched on when the taxi is free. Villareal says: 'Conformable lighting technologies such as electroluminescent (EL) or flexible LED strips can be used.' There is scope to include LED or OLED technologies for the head and rear lamps.

The MX-Libris would also employ 'drive by wire' technology, where electronics replace mechanical elements and functions of cars, creating more room and also helping to make cars lighter and more fuel efficient.

Ideally Villarreal would like to work with both companies managing the project to make the MX-Libris a commercial vehicle.

He says: 'The prototype will be expensive - I will need to adjust the design for it.'

Villarreal estimates a prototype of the vehicle could cost anywhere between $70,000 (€50,000) and $100,000 to build and take about a year to complete.

To fund a prototype Villarreal will also apply to CTS (Centro de Transporte Sustentable) Mexico - an institute set up to promote green transport - for funding to develop the concept further.

Automotive design is providing many applications and opportunities for plastic electronics. These include OLEDs for headlamps and dashboard lighting, printed wires for the electronics, textile sensors and controls in seating and upholstery and solar blinds and roofs for providing supplementary power.