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Canadian Cannabis Car

sykobabul writes "The CBC is reporting: 'An electric car made of hemp is being developed by a group of Canadian companies in collaboration with an Alberta Crown corporation. The Kestrel will be prototyped and tested later in August by Calgary-based Motive Industries Inc., a vehicle development firm focused on advanced materials and technologies, the company announced.' Leave it to us Canadians to come up with all sorts of uses for cannabis."

120 comments

  1. Only one word to describe it by maroberts · · Score: 4, Funny

    Smokin'!!

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

    1. Re:Only one word to describe it by h00manist · · Score: 1

      Smokin'!!

      Read somewhere hemp is actually a pretty strong fiber for making cloth, so for a convertible or something it could actually be pretty useful, jokes and advertising gimmicks aside...

      --
      Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
    2. Re:Only one word to describe it by Shark · · Score: 2, Informative

      It makes great plastic too.

      --
      Mind the frickin' laser...
    3. Re:Only one word to describe it by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > actually a pretty strong fiber for making cloth

      You mean like Paper, Fabric, Rope.? Wikipedia... go figure. :-)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

      Ironic how the tides have turned...

      "Hemp for Victory" from the US Department of Argiculture, 1942

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-117344919147932597#

    4. Re:Only one word to describe it by Skylinux · · Score: 1

      It is great stuff. I purchased a hemp shoulder bag from The Boston Company about 6 months ago and it is still looking almost brand new.
      I don't like the feeling of synthetic fiber so all I can say is "Give hemp a chance!".

      --
      Everyone who buys Wild Hunt will receive 16 specially prepared DLCs absolutely for free, regardless of platform.
    5. Re:Only one word to describe it by show+me+altoids · · Score: 1

      Chong is, in fact, Canadian, so there you go.

      --
      I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
  2. already done by i.r.id10t · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Didn't Cheech and Chong already do this?

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    1. Re:already done by R80_JR · · Score: 1

      That's the first think I thought...... big question is, did they *patent* it....

    2. Re:already done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they did, which is why nobody else tried until the patent expired!

      Yup - patents - boldly slowing the pace of innovation!

    3. Re:already done by rednip · · Score: 1

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078446/ I ran across it on an HD movie channel, and though that the various live location shots of the 1970's was more interesting than the movie.

      --
      The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
    4. Re:already done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no they just stuffed the panels chock full of weed, stacy keach came along and stopped them playing a police officer.. and thus there was humour!

    5. Re:already done by tehtehteh · · Score: 1

      I was totally going to say that.

    6. Re:already done by dougisfunny · · Score: 1

      Not this particular implementation.

      --
      This is not the funny you're looking for.
    7. Re:already done by twoallbeefpatties · · Score: 1

      'ey man, if the truck is a rockin' then don't come a' knockin'.

      --
      Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
    8. Re:already done by adewolf · · Score: 1
      --
      "The Brady Bunch is back...working homicide"
    9. Re:already done by jtrainmf · · Score: 1

      Cop: Sir can I see your license? Cheech: Isn't it on my bumper?

    10. Re:already done by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      Didn't Cheech and Chong already do this?

      No, Cheech and Chong made a van out of cannabis, this is made of hemp. They aren't the same thing (its like saying Coors Original and O'Doul's Beer are the same). The cannabis plants that Cheech and Chong used had high levels of THC (and if I remember the movie right, they could smoke the van too meaning it was made from the buds and not the stock of the plants), hemp on the other hand when grown for industrial usage are bred to have little to no THC and hemp is made from the stock that never has any THC anyways, and not the buds. Meaning you could smoke as much hemp-anything products and you won't get high. Same goes with eating hemp foods like hemp nut/seed and hemp oil, they have no THC (but are considered some of the healthiest foods you can add to your diet).

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    11. Re:already done by Curtman · · Score: 1
      Prior art.

      "Automotive pioneer Henry Ford first built a car made of hemp fibre and resin more than half a century ago."
      -- TFA

  3. Use more hemp please by Neil+Watson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It always disappoints me how little hemp is used in industry. It is my understanding that hemp is easy to grow, is a more durable replacement for cotton and can be a more sustainable fibre for paper.

    1. Re:Use more hemp please by slyrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It always disappoints me how little hemp is used in industry. It is my understanding that hemp is easy to grow, is a more durable replacement for cotton and can be a more sustainable fibre for paper.

      The same can be said of bamboo actually.

    2. Re:Use more hemp please by Amouth · · Score: 1

      I wish we would use more Bamboo than we do.. while it is harder to process than Pine.. it is by far a more renewable resource. (for a given land area over a given time) with the benefit of being stronger and more durable..

      I would love to get bamboo based boards and plywood

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    3. Re:Use more hemp please by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's already been available as a hardwood floor material for years now. I'm not sure you could make decent plywood out of it, since plywood manufacturing requires shaving the stock into sheets.

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
    4. Re:Use more hemp please by captainpanic · · Score: 1

      It's simply because everybody associates it with smoking that it's so unknown that you can use it for something useful as well...
      Hemp is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. It's got seeds for biodiesel, but the rest of the plant is full of useful fibres or biofuels/chemicals as well... The bio-based industry would love to use this plant...

      But all people can say whenever something based on hemp is brought to their attention is: "huhuuuhuhuh... stoners!"... which is a reaction I'd only expect from someone who is actually high at the moment of writing it up. .... oh... wait... aaaah... I see now.

      *points to everyone else on /. - stoners!*

    5. Re:Use more hemp please by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      You could make particle board though, which tends to be preferable to plywood in most instances anyway.

    6. Re:Use more hemp please by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      I heard it said once that when you point a finger at someone else, you point 3 back at yourself.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    7. Re:Use more hemp please by captain_dope_pants · · Score: 2, Interesting

      IIRC it used to be illegal in the UK not to grow hemp. This was back in the days of sailing ships etc. Farmers had to set aside a certain area for hemp cultivation.

      --
      while (true != false) process_more_stupid_code();
    8. Re:Use more hemp please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Particle board is only preferable because its cheap and has a more regular surface for painting. Plywood is a lot stronger and can be stained for a "natural" wood look so long as you cap the ends.

    9. Re:Use more hemp please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder what will be the productivity of an industry where everyone is stoned.

    10. Re:Use more hemp please by Khyber · · Score: 1

      At least, that's what it looks like if you're really stoned.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    11. Re:Use more hemp please by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      Sure, for finish work. But OSB and particleboard are still great for most things you'd need plywood for, and more than strong enough, as well as being able to be made of something like bamboo.

    12. Re:Use more hemp please by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 1

      Yes, it would be a good candidate for particle board. The two are not necessarily interchangeable, however. Plywood is generally better for environments where moisture will be an issue (sheathing for houses, for example), although that depends on a number of factors, such as the glue in the plywood or resin in the particle board.

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
    13. Re:Use more hemp please by tsm_sf · · Score: 2, Informative

      It always disappoints me how little hemp is used in industry. It is my understanding that hemp is easy to grow, is a more durable replacement for cotton and can be a more sustainable fibre for paper.

      It is. That's why it's illegal.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    14. Re:Use more hemp please by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      You know whats funny about that....

      It was said by one of my religion teachers in HS. I can't remember which one. However, the idea of either of them stoned is hilarious for entirely different reasons.

      One because he was the kind of tight wound ass who would give you an essay asking you about a moral issue, and then mark you wrong if your essay disagreed with his philosophy. He would write little comments (in red ink of course) like "What about natural law?" and pissed a few students off leading prayer in class that Roe V Wade would be over turned (I was fuming, but a good friend of mine actually stood up and turned his desk around in protest). He even told a jewish friend of mine (in class) that he felt sorry for him because he didn't know the love of Jesus!

      The other because... she was so easy going, I have to wonder if she wasn't stoned half the time. I got so much practice comming up with wild positions and defending them in essays just to see how far I could push it, and she would just write things like "Good point".

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  4. Hemp eh? by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One of the most useful crops imaginable, read the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp Trouble is a variety can be smoked, so it's all but banned. Shame really.
    We need to grow more.

    --
    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
    1. Re:Hemp eh? by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Shame really, a variety has useful fibers that are cheaper and just as durable as the newly invented nylon by Dupont. One year later, all hemp is banned. Don't kid yourself, hemp is illegal for monetary reasons, its use as a recreational drug was leveraged to make banning it all the more palpable to the American people.

    2. Re:Hemp eh? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      We need to grow more.

      Help stimulate demand for it. Visit your local "Hanfhaus" (Hemp-house), and buy some stuff made out of hemp: http://www.hanfhaus.de/adressen.php?language=en

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:Hemp eh? by TheCarp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, the smokable variety came first. Its been refined through breeding over the years... but...

      it was in fact a French company that engineered (I don't know if it was through genetic engineering or breeding, or a bit of both) the "low THC" variety, and then pushed for international laws defining "hemp".

      The real problem is NOT that most varieties can be smoked, its that some people can't mind their own business as to what other people do, and insist on asking the government to put a stop to the behavior that they don't like.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    4. Re:Hemp eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      No, seriously .... are you retarded?

      He's not, but you might be. At the very least you are pretty ignorant of history.

      It's not just nylon, but cotton and other fabrics - and the "war on drugs" started with *ONE* country, which then leveraged its economic muscle to get it banned in all the other countries too.

      Maybe instead of ridiculing people who make salient points, you might want to read up on the topic first, to avoid looking like a complete fucking moron.

    5. Re:Hemp eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he smoked too much hemp based cigarettes. it's another pothead conspiracy theory

    6. Re:Hemp eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No seriously are you retarded? Go learn history asshat

    7. Re:Hemp eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Nothing magical about it - they are all under the influence of multinational conglomerates which have colluded to make money off things other than hemp. Most of the world is what we glibly refer to as "banana republic".

      That being said, growing industrial hemp was just re-legalized in Oregon this last year - at least some states are coming to their senses:
      http://oregon.gov/ODA/ind_hemp.shtml

    8. Re:Hemp eh? by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      Yes, the entire planet is part of an evil plot to replace hemp with nylon. Countries which can't even agree on the color of the sky have all magically agreed to artificially make hemp obsolete.

      No, seriously .... are you retarded?

      Seriously... are you retarted?

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    9. Re:Hemp eh? by c6gunner · · Score: 0

      Judging by the fact that you're posting unrelated articles, I'm going to assume that the answer - in your case - is "yes". I'm still waiting for the original guy to respond, though.

    10. Re:Hemp eh? by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      .... click and read... click and read... I can't do that for you... if you just had clicked and read you would have noticed they are exactly about hemp and how it became illegal and how DuPont had a huge role in it and how it effected their nylon industry... click and read...

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    11. Re:Hemp eh? by Nadaka · · Score: 1

      You are waiting for me? It doesn't take an entire planet for this conspiracy.

      It only took a powerful corporation with its fingers in the government pie to pay for inflammatory campaigns to take advantage of racial and puritan public opinion to remove a competing product from the market.

      Just look at the facts. You can google for them, or read the links provided above.

      Every ship in the world uses miles of hemp ropes because it was cheap, resistant to wear and safe for all weather use.
      Dupont creates nylon.
      Dupont pays for advertising that sows disinformation and demonizes hemp.
      Dupont influences government officials.
      1 year later, hemp is banned and every ship that wishes to dock in the US must buy miles of new rope, the only alternative material that meets wear and weatherproof requirements of the shipping industry is nylon.

    12. Re:Hemp eh? by Jeng · · Score: 1

      Hemp was replaced by manila long before nylon was introduced.

      The only reason for "Hemp for Victory" was because the Philippines were occupied cutting off our supply of manila.

      --
      Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
    13. Re:Hemp eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that, it was used as a very good parchment, which irked the wood-pulp industry to no end as well.

    14. Re:Hemp eh? by Gaffod · · Score: 1

      hemp is illegal for monetary reasons, its use as a recreational drug was leveraged to make banning it all the more palpable to the American people.

      I think it is illegal because the cannabis you can smoke looks similar to the one used for fiber, which makes it harder to spot marijuana fields from the air because now you have to check each one more closely, as well as having to constantly inspect the (presumably) vast industrial fields to make sure they aren't hiding some drug plants in their fiber crop.

    15. Re:Hemp eh? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      And all the citations point straight to your ass.

  5. wooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if it can do a burn-out.

  6. Here in Canada... by charles+xavier · · Score: 1

    I remember about ten years back, hemp was the "new big thing" in the local farming industry. There were a bunch of farmers around here growing it. Then they had to deal with dumb kids trying to sneak into their fields and smoke it. Then they discovered that it was especially hard on their harvesting machines. Then they discovered that there wasn't much of a market for it, I suppose, because after that one year, I never saw another hemp field again.

    1. Re:Here in Canada... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      If all those kids are getting caught in the harvesting machines, I could imagine them having problems.

  7. Inbuilt safety by dimethylxanthine · · Score: 1

    - "Dude, we hit something..."
    - "Forgot to open the garage door dude..."

  8. a little late: henry ford did that by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Informative

    here's a youtube clip of the original hemp car, in 1941

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rgDyEO_8cI

    among other hemp facts:

    ford and diesel intended their cars to run on hemp oil

    jefferson drafted the declaration of independence on hemp paper

    much of the founding fathers grew hemp or processed it

    read more:

    http://naihc.org/hemp_information/hemp_facts.html

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:a little late: henry ford did that by danbert8 · · Score: 1

      No, Diesel intended his engine to be run on Peanut oil.

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  9. What happens? by Panspechi · · Score: 1

    If you get into an accident and the car stars to burn a little? Do you have Emergency Cheetos in the glove compartment?

    1. Re:What happens? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      The roadside assistance kit contains Twinkies, a large bottle of Mountain Dew, and some aluminum foil.

  10. Why I'm not surprised by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

    Western Canada (mostly BC and Alberta) has a lot of MJ around. I don't really know why, I have no idea if it's ALL grown here, or imported, or what not, but there seems to be more pot than any other drug. I've been approached downtown for the option to buy, sell, or asked directions to somebody who does buy or sell, for a couple of different drugs but mostly weed. The house behind my parent's place while I was growing up had 2 police raids that caught 2 marijuana grow ops, and 1 meth lab. [tinfoilhat] I think that when some criminals get evicted like that, the price of the house gets put up below market value, and the drug lords are the first to know so they just buy it up again and plant some more pawns in there [/tinfoilhat].

    But yeah, we've got a few of these subcommunities just outside Calgary, like Chestemere and Airdrie, that don't REALLY have heavy policing, so thats usually where the grass is growing. Whenever the police raid a Chestemere house, it's usually a really big score. I think the RCMP had a shoot out in Chestemere a couple years ago where the druggies pulled out some semi automatics.

    We've got a street near downtown known as "17th Ave" - and its chalked full of shops and restaurants for about 2 dozen blocks. I know there is a hemp store along there and I've only ventured in once (with a group of friends) - and it really reminded me of the Volkwagen van from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. You know where every morning he puts on the Jimmy Hendrix American Anthem and the jeep goes "Will you turn off that disrespectful racket?!" and he goes "Respect the classics, maaaaaan". Yes, the people in the hemp shop are definately saying "Man" A LOT. And they've expanded, I think they have 3 or 4 shops now across town.

    Anyways, so I haven't been out east as much as I'd like, but I hear Toronto is really the center of Canada for Crack. It's kind of funny when you can identify your regions of Canada based on what drugs are popular.

    1. Re:Why I'm not surprised by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Remind me again; with cannabis so popular recreationally in BC and harmless, why is it illegal?

    2. Re:Why I'm not surprised by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      It's a conspiracy, Maaaaaan!

    3. Re:Why I'm not surprised by oldspewey · · Score: 1

      Because playing to the hard-right conservative crowd with a "tough on crime" agenda makes for good politics.

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    4. Re:Why I'm not surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Living in the Detroit area we get a couple Canadian TV stations here. Years ago (like late 80's early 90's) I watched a "Fifth Estate" that chronicled the indoor grow industry in B.C.. At that time B.C. was the capitol of indoor growing with the most grow rooms found in the world at that time. Through the 90's it escalated larger and larger to the point that the B.C. police gave up efforts to stop indoor growing because they were using all their funding on it and not pursuing other crimes, such as murder, rape, theft, etc. That is why B.C. and areas surrounding have such a large presence of marijuana around.

    5. Re:Why I'm not surprised by zach_d · · Score: 1

      In a lot of BC it effectively isn't.

      Walking around vancouver it's common to see people openly smoking joints, and I've even seen guys offer them to a police officer (somewhat cheekily, but still). The reason it's not legal in the whole country is that we fear the border would be frozen if we did legalize it. I'm quite curious to see what happens in the United States if prop. 19 passes. It could have quite an effect on our own laws, and political scene.

    6. Re:Why I'm not surprised by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      Blame America's Puritanical roots and Canada's need/desire to follow our lead

    7. Re:Why I'm not surprised by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Western Canada (mostly BC and Alberta) has a lot of MJ around. I don't really know why, I have no idea if it's ALL grown here, or imported, or what not, but there seems to be more pot than any other drug.

      It's all locally grown, and mostly in BC - the latter produces over 40% of all Canadian cannabis (and most of it is actually exported to US).

      The reason why it's grown in BC is because the local conditions are very conductive to it. The climate is good - there's plenty of sun. Forested hilly and mountainous terrain makes concealing fields easy. Finally, you need a lot of electricity, and not only it's here in abundance - so it's cheap even if you pay for it - but the location of hydro power plants relative to populated areas makes it relatively easy to steal it directly from the wires where they pass in remote areas.

    8. Re:Why I'm not surprised by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      [...] and its chalked full of shops [...]

      The expression is chock full.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  11. Reeferance, please by hyades1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, guys, c'mon over here and have a look at my spliffy new car. It's a 2011 Tokeswagen.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  12. Hemp !== Cannabis. by gus+goose · · Score: 2, Insightful

    FFS, people, when will it be understood that Hemp is much more than just Cannabis? Honestly, folk... 'concluding' that the car is made of Cannabis when it's described as a 'hemp' car is like concluding a person is a heroine user when they say they took some drugs... (even if it was a headache pill).

    gus

    --
    .. if only.
    1. Re:Hemp !== Cannabis. by canajin56 · · Score: 1

      It's more like concluding somebody is a heroin user because they ate a poppy seed muffin. Heroin and other opiates are made from a kind of poppy, after all.

      --
      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    2. Re:Hemp !== Cannabis. by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Taxonomical failure.

      Hemp is from the Cannabis genus.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  13. Someone did that already by TrentTheThief · · Score: 1

    Henry Ford did that in 1941.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rgDyEO_8cI

  14. Up in Smoke by fermion · · Score: 1
    Just watched it this past weekend when I saw it on netflix. Those guys were crazy.

    Ob on topic

    Hemp is one of the best examples when we let fear rule out lives. The lost innovation and efficiency, IMHO, is staggering. I don't know what was going on in the 30's that made hemp so evil. I don't suppose it could be any worse than the Meth problems we have now. The funny thing is that hemp cannot be grown, while the constituents of meth are still be sold over the counter. I suspect it just that some people are so afraid of nature all they can do is destroy it.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    1. Re:Up in Smoke by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      If what I heard was accurate, what came along was nylon. Hemp competed with it in a variety of ways, so it was smeared with great success by the chemical industries and (yes, even then) their toadies in government.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    2. Re:Up in Smoke by Is0m0rph · · Score: 1

      What happened is black Jazz musicians took a liking to it and our government demonized it with a lot of propaganda to make it illegal.

    3. Re:Up in Smoke by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

      "Up In Smoke" is entirely on-topic: one of the scenarios (scenaria?) involves smuggling hash across the border by converting it into the body of a panel-van. No prizes for guessing what happens to it...

      On a more serious note, cultivation of the weed under agrodomes used to keep an old codger I knew in the Cotswolds in relative comfort in his retirement back in the '80s. (Thatcher's Britain was sometimes a miserable place to be.) But if I had kept smoking the stuff like I did then, I would be hard pressed to muster a quorum of neurons now. Several of my acquaintances from back then might as well be suffering from dementia, such is the effect of dope on memory.

    4. Re:Up in Smoke by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      You should read "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer. Available to read online here or get a hardcopy.

      Biased, yeah, more than a bit.

      Interesting, full of real information and worth reading, definitely.

      Totally changed my view point on Cannabis Sativa.

  15. On a more serious note... by TheRedDuke · · Score: 1

    The article doesn't really talk about production of the material - environmental impact aside, is it cheaper to produce than steel or aluminum? And how does it hold up in crash tests, or have any even been done? I'm all for being green, but I'd rather not end up as fertilizer.

    1. Re:On a more serious note... by deathlyslow · · Score: 1
      From TFS

      The Kestrel will be prototyped and tested later in August by Calgary-based Motive Industries Inc., a vehicle development firm focused on advanced materials and technologies, the company announced.'

      --
      Don't blame me for redundant posts. I can't type very fast. Hence the user ID.
  16. Cannabis is the genus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    learn to taxonomy

  17. Canada rules! by chanio · · Score: 0

    I guess that instead of plastic, they use hemp

    --
    Rwe obliged 2 save our future by choosing:O3 hole-greenhouse effect instead of accepting everydays gossip-nonsense chat?
  18. reminds me of a famous quote... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Punch it Scoob! -- Shaggy.

  19. Hemp IS Cannabis... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 4, Informative

    FFS, people, when will it be understood that Hemp is much more than just Cannabis?

    Industrial hemp is just a cultivar of C. Sativa that is bred for fiber and oil production.

    There are 3 separate species of Cannabis, and many different cultivars and hybrid varieties.

    ALL hemp is Cannabis. But not all Cannabis is hemp. The varieties grown for drug use are generally pretty poor fiber producers.

    --
    Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
    1. Re:Hemp IS Cannabis... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's make a trade. The kind I want has poor fiber production and the kind you want has strong fibers.

    2. Re:Hemp IS Cannabis... by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "The varieties grown for drug use are generally pretty poor fiber producers."

      Tell that to my busted bone shears.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  20. Would be a safety hazard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not because it's any less safe, but because people would gather round during a car fire!

  21. 55 MPH?!?!?! by oic0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anyone else find it ironic that a car made of weed tops out at 55mph? I dunno about where yall live, but here the slow driving stoners piss me off. 55mph sound like it would suit them fine. Drunks go to fast and kill folks quickly Stoners go to slow and raise our blood pressure, killing us slowly.

  22. Canada? by Beorytis · · Score: 1

    Don't you mean Cannaba?

  23. not a new idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Henry Ford wanted to do this literally a century ago. You can thank the textile industry.

  24. ur doin it wrong by AnAdventurer · · Score: 1

    See this is what happens if you smoke pot, you come up with dumb ideas like this. See, you are supposed to make a car that RUNS ON HEMP, not made of it. Frickin pot heads.

    --
    6.8SPC TR of 550, l xwind at 6, drift rt at 26" drops 77". AT has 503 ft-lbs at 1403 fps. FT 0.86
    1. Re:ur doin it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      can't it be both?

    2. Re:ur doin it wrong by Khyber · · Score: 2, Informative

      See, folks, this is what happens when you DON'T smoke pot, you say wholly uneducated nonsense such as this.

      We can make parts of the car out of hemp - plastic body panels can be made from the seeds and plant fibers by converting it into bioplastics.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    3. Re:ur doin it wrong by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Economically feasible hemp production is done on soil, but topsoil-based fuel production is fundamentally wrongheaded. There are plenty of alternatives; for example, this one is an EV. If you want solar fuel, algae is the answer, as proven by the USDOE at Sandia NREL. Indeed, it is an ideal match for our current energy production schemes both because biodiesel can be transported and delivered with existing infrastructure, but because it can be part of a successful carbon capture strategy when implemented at a coal or oil power plant.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  25. I can see it now - teenage gearheads... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...smoke the tires comin' off the line... and the next thing ya know, they're doin' 15mph and bein' passed by a school bus.

  26. Re:Hemp == Cannabis, actually. by Idarubicin · · Score: 1

    FFS, people, when will it be understood that Hemp is much more than just Cannabis? Honestly, folk... 'concluding' that the car is made of Cannabis when it's described as a 'hemp' car is like concluding a person is a heroine user when they say they took some drugs... (even if it was a headache pill).

    Except that hemp is Cannabis. Industrial hemp is generally manufactured from Cannabis sativa sativa, while medicinal and recreational products are generally derived from Cannabis sativa indica.

    Honestly, folks, concluding that a car is made from 'Cannabis' when it's described as 'hemp', is like concluding that a suit is made from 'polymers' when it's described as being 'polyester'... Oh.

    --
    ~Idarubicin
  27. Imagine the looks... by Smooth+and+Shiny · · Score: 1

    Imagine the looks on the faces of all those people who lock themselves into a car with a hose coming from the tail pipe when they suddenly feel like everything is fine!

  28. 40 km range? by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    FTFA:
    http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/08/23/cannabis-hemp-electric-car-kestrel-motive.html
    "a range of 40 to 160 kilometres before needing to be recharged, depending on the type of battery....with a capacity ranging from 4.5 to 17.3 kilowatt hours of energy."

    40 km range? 24 miles? That's a golf cart, not a car, will they at least give me a spot to throw a dozen D cells in so I can get home?

    Even 160km is only 100 miles, so it's equivalent to the Nissan Leaf but without the big Nissan name behind it.

    These cars better at least be cheap.

    --
    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    1. Re:40 km range? by MachDelta · · Score: 1

      40km is a little low, but even if the thing averages 100km (60mi) it would be more than sufficient for most urban daily commutes.
      Personally i'm more worried about the top speed. 90kph isn't fast enough for the highways or freeways in Alberta. Taking that thing on Highway 2, the Deerfoot (Calgary freeway), or the Henday (Edmonton freeway) would just be dangerous. I think a car like this would need to do at least 110kph before many people (including myself) would seriously consider it.

    2. Re:40 km range? by hitmark · · Score: 1

      not everyone live in sprawling suburbia...

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
  29. whole new meaning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..to car bonfire!

    1. Re:whole new meaning by spazdor · · Score: 1

      "hot box"

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    2. Re:whole new meaning by darthdavid · · Score: 1

      drive to the beach and have a clambake?

  30. Hah! by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    The varieties grown for drug use are generally pretty poor fiber producers

    I wish!
    /returns to winnowing out stems

  31. Trabant by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    Composite material bodies have been done before

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant#Overview

    The Trabant was a steel monocoque design with roof, bootlid/trunklid, bonnet/hood, bumpers/fenders and doors in Duroplast, a form of plastic containing resin strengthened by wool or cotton.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  32. Invasive Species by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most types of bamboo are very invasive. You need to grow them in containers, or in beds lined with metal, to keep the extensive root systems from escaping. Once those roots escape confinement, bamboo can take over your property (most varieties).

  33. Kestrel? by that+IT+girl · · Score: 1

    You know you're a nerd when you read about a car made of hemp, but all you can think of when you see the name is that second character in Splinter Cell: Conviction.

    --
    10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
    20 DRINK COFFEE
    30 GOTO 10
  34. FiberWeed? by Ricdude · · Score: 1

    I saw a documentary about this decades ago. Or maybe it was a Cheech and Chong movie, it's hard to tell...

    --
    How's my programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL
  35. Time to immigrate? by osu-neko · · Score: 1

    How easy is it for an immigrant to earn Canadian citizenship? :)

    --
    "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    1. Re:Time to immigrate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Relative to the American system, it's pretty standardized and easy to understand: http://www.workpermit.com/canada/points_calculator.htm.

      So a combination of: Speak English, have at least a two-year degree (note Canada distinguishes college diploma vs. university degree), have worked for a year, have a job offer, and younger than 52 and you're set. Other combinations work.

      Oh, and you can't be a convict (this includes things that are civil matters in the US but criminal matters in Canada). And no pre-existing conditions in your immediate family.

  36. Kestrel by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Sort of unrelated, but I thought at least they picked a pretty cool name for the can anyway...

  37. Stop this! by santax · · Score: 1

    It's such a waste of perfectly good cannabis :(

    1. Re:Stop this! by duguk · · Score: 1

      It's such a waste of perfectly good cannabis :(

      IIRC, usually a different type of Cannabis plant is used for hemp vs. for 'medicinal' use.

  38. Gotta love common sense by Nyder · · Score: 1

    Here we have Hemp. Has a shit load of great uses, is an annually renewable source that doesn't tap nutrients from the ground, but is illegal.

    Here we have Nicotine. Has 1 use. Is bad for people, but legal.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  39. Cheets and Chongs - UP IN SMOKE by mozfet · · Score: 1

    Would this be the van from Cheets and Chongs - UP IN SMOKE?

  40. I am a genius so shut up and listen. by dogzdik · · Score: 0

    There is a REAL difference between WEED to smoke and HEMP to make stuff from. HEMP is a variety of cannabis that had LOTS of very long strong fibers to make things from. It's very tough, long lasting. It has bascially no THC - unless you like smoking 20Kg of it - in a single joint. WEED (to smoke) has "not much" fiber content, and it's full of carciogenic brain damaging nasties... And Henry Ford was making panels out of it for his cars.. Hemp jeans are softer, silkier and kind of outlast denim (cotton) jeans about 20 to 1...... So It's all cool. It's a GREAT fiber.

    --

    .

    Voting up, Voting down - If I really gave a fuck about your approval or not, I'd come and ask you.

  41. Anonymous Coward!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is amazing news for the auto industry. I cannot wait to see where we will be in just 10 years time.

    The fact that they are using hemp is of particular interest to me as hemp is one of the most abundant, versatile crops provided by mother earth and it don’t require any pesticides or fertilizers to grow it. Just good old sunlight.

    Not only can it build a car, it can fuel it too.

    With that said, the fact that a natural plant, native to mother earth has been outlawed is crazy!! Why do we put up with this?

    There is a chance to overturn it I believe in this celebrity crazed age. I watched the trailer to a documentary which is coming to theatres early next year which is all about the legalization of Hemp (called Hempsters) and is spearheaded but Woody Harrelson who actually gets arrested for planting three hemp seeds in Kentucky. (What a complete waste of police and judicial time).

    Check the trailer out and offer this film some support so we can get rid of the madness:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hempsters/143347452353242?ref=ts