REINVENTING THE WHEELS

The report 'REINVENTING THE WHEELS' proposes the 'Hypercar'—an ultralight hybrid-electric vehicle—as a way to increase fuel efficiency tenfold compared to 1990s standards. The authors argue that combining advanced composite materials to reduce weight and aerodynamic drag with a hybrid-electric drive to recover braking energy can create vehicles that are safer, cleaner, and cheaper to manufacture than traditional steel cars. The document advocates for a shift in industrial strategy and the use of 'feebates' to accelerate the transition away from the 'Iron Age' of automotive manufacturing.

• The 'Hypercar' concept combines an 'ultralight strategy' with a 'hybrid-electric drive' to potentially increase fuel efficiency by ten times that of contemporary cars. This is achieved by reducing weight by 65-75%, cutting aerodynamic drag by 60-80%, and reducing tire and road energy loss by 65-80%.
• A hybrid-electric drive uses a small onboard engine to generate electricity for wheel motors, allowing the engine to be roughly one-tenth the size of a normal engine. This system can recover at least 70 percent of braking energy using batteries or a carbon-fiber 'superflywheel'.
• Replacing steel with moldable synthetic composites offers significant manufacturing and performance advantages. Composites can achieve the strength of steel at one-half to one-third of the weight, and the use of single molding dies can reduce total tooling costs per model to between one-half and one-tenth of those for steel.
• The authors argue that Hypercars could qualify as Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) under California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandates because their tailpipe emissions could be lower than the emissions from power plants required to charge battery-electric cars.
• To overcome market failures and the inefficiency of gasoline taxes, the report suggests a 'feebate' system. This system would charge a fee on inefficient new cars to fund rebates for efficient ones, potentially providing $5,000 to $15,000 toward the cost of an efficient vehicle based on its improvement over a scrapped old car.
• The report warns that while Hypercars solve energy and pollution issues, they do not solve urban congestion. Comprehensive transport and land-use reforms are necessary to prevent a scenario where people 'run out of roads, time, and patience'.

APA

Lovins, A. B., & Lovins, L. H. (1995). REINVENTING THE WHEELS. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_T94-29_ReinventWheels.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B., and L. Hunter Lovins. REINVENTING THE WHEELS. RMI, 1995. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_T94-29_ReinventWheels.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |last2=Lovins |first2=L. Hunter |title=REINVENTING THE WHEELS |publisher=RMI |date=January 1995 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_T94-29_ReinventWheels.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovins1995reinventing, author = {Lovins, Amory B. and Lovins, L. Hunter}, title = {{REINVENTING THE WHEELS}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {1995}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_T94-29_ReinventWheels.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }