Lotus Eco Elise Sport Car Made with Hemp

When U.K. engineers were challenged with designing the Lotus Eco Elise, arguably the first green high-performance sports car, they knew just where to turn for sustainable materials: their backyards.

The English countryside, like the North American Midwest, is a veritable petri dish for growing hemp, a multi-purpose industrial crop that requires little-to-no chemicals to grow.

The body parts and rear spoiler of the Eco Elise are made using hemp instead of fiberglass. Hemp was even used in the manufacture of the seats. But engineers didn’t simply choose the material for its strength and durability. They also chose it because part of being sustainable is sourcing materials locally.

Lee Preston, Lotus engineering:

What we’ve done with the Eco Elise is look at the production stage; look at all the materials that go into the build of the car, which normally get forgotten about really. And obviously the car is built locally – it’s built in the countryside. We wanted to use local materials…

In industries all over the world–from construction to clothing–hemp is revolutionizing the materials game. And it’s not just engineers who are excited about it. In countries where it’s legal to grow industrial hemp, farmers have found a new way to turn profits.

Dan Squire, U.K. farmer:

[Hemp] is a lot better gross margin than peas and beans; very comparable with really good-rate crops and will even stand on its two feet next to cereals

The (above) video clip isn’t just about the new Lotus. It’s a great all-around report on hemp as an industrial material.