14 DAY TRIAL // This past Tuesday, American multinational automaker Ford made one really wacky announcement: as it turns out, the company is now looking into the possibility to use tomatoes to make environmentally friendly cars.
Should Ford also decide to add some cheese and cucumbers in the mix, it might not be long until we all get to drive around in oversized salads-on-wheels, some might want to comment on this piece of news.
To see its dream come true, the American automaker has entered a partnership with food processing company and ketchup giant Heinz, information made available to the public says.
Mind you, Heinz and Ford have no intention to glue tomatoes together in order to make cars or anything of the sorts. What they have in mind is the development of a new bioplastic material for vehicles.
This material would have fibers extracted from tomatoes as its chief ingredient and would serve to make wiring Brackets and storage bins. Unlike the materials currently in use, it would be more sustainable and less polluting.
“Dried tomato skins could become the wiring brackets in a Ford vehicle or the storage bin a Ford customer uses to hold coins and other small objects,” the American multinational automaker writes in a press release on the matter at hand.
“Success in developing a new more sustainable composite could reduce the use of petrochemicals in manufacturing and reduce the impact of vehicles on the environment,” Ford goes on to explain, as cited by Phys Org.
To put things into perspective, Ford has released an infographic detailing what its plan to use tomatoes to make cars is all about. The infographic is available below, and it makes the business of turning tomatoes into car parts sound like child's play.
For the time being, it is unclear when the first four-wheelers whose makeup includes tomatoes-based parts will hit the market. One can only assume that, when this finally happens, the automotive industry will forever be transformed.
Commenting on this project, researcher Ellen Lee wishes to stress that, “Our goal is to develop a strong, lightweight material that meets our vehicle requirements, while at the same time reducing our overall environmental impact.”
“We are exploring whether this food processing byproduct makes sense for an automotive application,” the plastics research technical specialist for Ford goes on to add.
Interestingly enough, it was two years ago that Ford first became interested in developing eco-friendly materials. At that time, the company, together with Heinz, The Coca-Cola Company, Nike Inc. and Procter & Gamble started work on developing a 100% plant-based plastic.
