Canadian based Motive Industries, Inc. plans on building an all-electric car made from hemp fibers. 
The car, named the Kestrel, will be a compact, and it will be able to transport four people up to speeds of 60 mph. It will have a driving range of 100 miles before needing to be recharged. Hemp fiber based vehicles is not a new idea. Henry Ford’s first built car was made of hemp fiber and resin more than 100 years ago. Hemp production was once legal in the U.S., and products made from hemp like rope, fuel oil, and clothing powered the war effort in this country during World War II. The car’s body will be made of an impact-resistant composite material produced from mats of hemp, a plant from the cannabis family. It will be powered by an electric motor made by TM4 Electrodynamic Systems. Hemp has twice the strength of any other plant-based fiber and is easy to grow. The plant does not need much water and uses the sun to fuel its growth, and it provides a high yield per planted acre. Canada allows the growing of processed hemp to be used in a variety of commercial applications. The U.S. does not, and the Canadian developer of this vehicle feels that it will give them a leg up over equivalent U.S. vehicles. The vehicle design will be featured at the 2010 Electric Vehicle Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver, Canada. Motive Industries has pre sold 20 Kestrel test vehicles to EnMax a Calgary based energy distribution company.
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