In 1991, Lovins
proposed three key design changes that he said
could save at least 70 to 80 percent of the
fuel cars currently use, while making them safer,
sportier, and more comfortable:
Make the vehicle ultralight,
two to three times lighter than steel cars;
Make it ultra-low-drag, to slip through the
air and roll along the road several times more
easily; and
After that, give it a hybrid-electric
and, as soon as possible, a fuel cell powered
propulsion system.
Lovins called the result
a “hypercar,” a whole-car redesign
that he believed “could launch an upheaval
not only in what and how much we drive but in
how the global economy works. Such Hypercars
could ultimately spell the end of today's car,
oil, steel, aluminum, electricity, and coal
industries—and herald the birth of successor
industries that are more benign.” (Nat
Cap)
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