Finnish forest product company UPM will present its prototype wood car at this year’s Geneva motor show in March, Bloomberg news agency reports.

The Biofore Concept Car car is built on a frame that uses pulp and plywood and runs on fuel made of bark, stump and branches.

UPM and its partners such as Finland's Metropolia University of Applied Sciences hope to prove that lumber is an option to the auto-industry.

The concept, which uses off-the-shelf products, is designed to meet European standards for crash and fire safety and offers all the comforts of a conventional car.

— The world of sustainable development isn’t something that’s chosen, it will come, Juuso Konttinen, UPM’s vice president for new business told Bloomberg.

The first test-drive of the wood vehicle was conducted during an August rainstorm to eliminate concerns that a wood car cannot handle exposure to water.

Fifty technicians have spent a total of 30,000 hours working on the car.

Source:
www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/news/wood-frames-and-fuels-upm-car

Photo:
www.salon-auto.ch/en/presse