LIFE-SAVE
The project aims to industrialize the HySolarKit system for converting conventional cars into hybrid-solar vehicles. The goal is to accelerate the ongoing energy transition by reducing polluting emissions associated with internal combustion engines. The technology has been patented, validated, and so far implemented on two prototypes.
The project is carried out by a partnership of 4 companies (eProInn, Mecaprom, Solbian, Landi Renzo), each responsible for developing a different aspect of the conversion system.
More information can be found on the website www.life-save.eu.
The motivations
CO2 emissions
Currently, transports are responsible for 63% of global oil consumption and 29% of CO2 emissions and achieving a more efficient, flexible and safer (and less invasive) transport for the environment is now an essential objective.
EU objectives and limitations
The European Union has set 2050 as the target for achieving zero CO2 emissions. To reach this goal, it is imposing restrictions on the circulation of polluting vehicles and promoting their scrapping. While this strategy aims to promote sustainability development, it has a negative environmental impact, as it also encourages the scrapping of conventional vehicles that are still in good condition.
Electric vehicles growing
The ongoing energy transition is confirmed by statistics that highlight a significant increase in the number of registered electric vehicles. However, despite this, the cost associated with purchasing a new electric vehicle remains prohibitive for many.
HySolarKit
The best option would be the electric car but several problems are still to overcome. Above all a mass conversion to electric cars is not achievable in the short term, for various reasons:
- it would be necessary a remarkable growth of the electric production obtained from a renewable source (otherwise the objective of reduction of the CO2 would be vanished)
- the current electricity grid would be in crisis by a general recourse to the recharging of electric vehicles, before major adjustments to the network structure and its “philosophy” (Smart-Grid)
- the charging power of the batteries is still too low, so the charging times are much higher (even up to a factor of 100!) compared to those we are used to with motor vehicles
- hybrid vehicles are certainly a good solution in the short and medium term to the demand for cars that consume and pollute less
Even in this case, a large-scale transition to the hybrid traction would clash with some problems: the cost of the hybrid, more expensive than traditional cars and especially the need to scrap a large part of the circulating delivery, often made up of cars still in good condition.
HySolarKit, on the other hand, converts cars into hybrid-solar vehicles with a low cost, thus reducing consumption and emissions, accessing restricted traffic areas, increasing autonomy and vehicle performance and avoiding the use of cars that are often still in good condition. conditions, premising their reuse, which is one of the pillars of sustainability.
