Spotted: Swedish electric boat company X Shore recently introduced its latest model, a slightly smaller boat designed to be more affordable for everyday use. Named the X Shore 1, the boat is completely silent and requires less than an hour of charging on a superfast connection. It is six and a half metres long and comes in two designs – a fully open version and one that can be enclosed.
The boat’s top speed is 30 knots with a cruising speed of 20 knots. Cork replaces the traditional teak on the decking, and a moveable sunbed and chairs allows riders to choose to face forward or back. A single charge can take the boat up to 50 nautical miles, and there is enough interior space for four to sleep. There is also room for food storage and a portable toilet.
Chargers located at many docks can refill the single battery in around three hours, and the app-based technology to run the boat helps make it difficult to steal. Owners use their connected device as a remote key, and an onboard touchscreen syncs with the app to provide real-time data from any location.
The types of electric vehicles available are increasing, with Springwise spotting rickshaws and camper vans bringing renewable power to transport.
London-based toothbrush company Suri has created Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush, an electric toothbrush with an aluminium body and brush heads made from plant-based materials that can be recycled after use.
Suri founders Mark Rushmore and Gyve Safavi designed the Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush after learning that nearly every plastic toothbrush ever owned still exists in the world. They believe it could replace plastic toothbrushes – four million of which they say are disposed of each year around the world.
Suri has released an electric toothbrush that has a recyclable head
“Over the last few decades, electric brushes haven’t meaningfully changed; only novelty features, such as Bluetooth-enabled apps, have emerged on the market under the guise of innovation,” Rushmore told Dezeen.
“While most are bulky composites of plastic that can’t be recycled because they’re welded shut, it’s no surprise that every year over four billion brushes – including electric ones – are thrown away and end up either in landfill or in our oceans,” he added.
“We wanted to create a brush that champions design, performance and sustainability without compromise.”
The bristles are made from corn starch and castor oil
The Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush heads, which come with medium to soft bristles are made from corn starch and castor oil.
Traditional toothbrushes usually have bristles made from nylon, which end up as landfill waste or marine waste for decades.
By contrast, Suri claims that they are 100 per cent recyclable. Users can send their used brush heads back to the brand in the post in compostable paper bags provided by the company.
The toothbrush body is made from aluminium
By using a pre-paid compostable return service, Suri hopes to make the process of changing heads as easy as possible and discourage its customers from switching back to disposable brushes out of convenience.
The company recommends changing the brush head every three to four months as you would traditional electronic toothbrush heads.
It comes in three muted colours
Alternatively, the brush heads can be recycled at home by removing the bristles and disposing of them in a home waste bin where the brand says they will eventually break down in a couple of years.
According to the toothbrush manual, the metal clips that connect the bristles to the head and the inner core of the head can also be recycled at home in the same way as aluminium foil. The remaining cornstarch shell can be sent to a local industrial composter.
Meanwhile, the aluminium body can be sent back to Suri to be repaired or have its rechargeable Li-ion batteries replaced once they run out. The batteries are designed to last for up to 30 days without being charged.
“Once a customer’s battery dies, they can send back the brush to us to replace the battery or complete any other repairs, if necessary,” Safavi explained.
“Whilst we’re refurbishing the brush, we will send that customer a replacement brush so they can still brush their teeth.”
Users can send the body back to the company to be repaired
Despite Suri’s sustainability claims, the brand sources the materials and manufactures its toothbrushes in China. As a result, the product’s carbon footprint is much larger than it would be if the product was manufactured locally.
“All components are sourced in China but we found that we could reduce our scope three emissions by not shipping parts to the region to assemble and then ship on once again,” Rushmore said.
“We are looking to make production more local, but this was the most optimal way to launch with sustainability in mind.”
Cutting down on virgin plastic in toiletries is one way that designers are trying to make their products more sustainable.
New York toiletries company By Humankind created refillable deodorants and dehydrated mouthwash that come in paper pods made of biodegradable paper while design studio Visibility developed a re-fillable container for plant-based deodorant brand Myro that uses 50 per cent less plastic than a regular disposable toiletry.
Suri’s Sonic Toothbrush has been shortlisted in the product design category of the Dezeen Awards. Other products shortlisted for design awards include Tenuto 2, a wearable vibrator by MysteryVibe that is designed for those who experience erectile dysfunction.
Spotted: While electric vehicles certainly release far fewer tailpipe emissions than their internal combustion forebears, the lithium-ion batteries that power most of them face several sustainability issues. One of these is the fact that the average lithium-ion battery is sent to the recycler while still retaining around 70 per cent of its charging capacity. That may not be enough charging capacity for an electric vehicle (EV), but it is enough for other uses. A number of businesses are now popping up to provide a second life for these semi-used batteries. One of these is Nunam.
The non-profit startup based in Berlin and Bangalore is funded by the Audi Environmental Foundation and focuses on developing uses for second-life batteries. Its most recent project, in collaboration with AUDI AG and the Audi Environmental Foundation, is an e-rickshaw powered by used battery modules that spent their first life in an Audi e-tron. The e-rickshaws will be provided to women small business owners in India to use for transporting their goods.
While e-rickshaws are not new to the roads of India, most run on lead-acid batteries, which have a comparatively short service life and are often not disposed of properly – leading to additional pollution. On top of this, most e-rickshaw drivers charge up on the public grid, which gets a large amount of its power from coal. To get around this, Nunam has developed solar charging stations for the rickshaws. During the day, sunlight charges an e-tron battery, and in the evening, the power is passed on to the rickshaws, making local driving largely carbon-free.
Nunam cofounder Prodip Chatterjee describes e-rickshaws as having an ideal eco-efficiency. He explains that, “Car batteries are designed to last the life of the car. But even after their initial use in a vehicle, they still have a lot of their power. For vehicles with lower range and power requirements, as well as lower overall weight, they are extremely promising. In our second-life project, we reuse batteries from electric cars in electric vehicles; you might call it electric mobility ‘lite’.
Rickshaws are just the latest vehicle to join the EV revolution. Their small size makes them perfect for use as EV-powered delivery vehicles. But they are not alone. Springwise has also highlighted other EV delivery or micro-mobility vehicles, including solar-powered tuk-tuks, electric tuk-tuks for use in last-mile delivery, and an autonomous, electric grocery store on wheels.
Spotted: Chinese startup Chilye, a developer of high-voltage battery systems for electric vehicles (EVs), has raised RMB 100 million (around €14.8 million) from a group of investors led by Xiaomi, one of the world’s largest smartphone makers.
Most EVs operate at 400 volts, but there is increasing interest in 800-volt systems. For example, in 2020, Porsche released its luxury “Taycan” model — the first EV from a major automaker to use an 800-volt battery.
There are several potential benefits to higher voltage systems. They offer more range, lighter car weight, and better energy efficiency, and can also be charged more quickly using fast chargers. These potential advantages are persuading leading automakers to explore the technology, and Chilye claims to have secured clients that include ‘multiple mainstream automakers’.
Chilye’s new funding will be used to ramp-up commercial production of its high-voltage battery system. According to Technode, the company claimed earlier this year that it will have the annual production capacity to equip 3 million EVs with its products by mid-2022.
Xiaomi’s investment in Chilye is part of a broader push by the consumer electronics giant to become a key player in the EV market. The company intends to invest further in domestic Chinese companies in the EV supply chain, and it also has plans to mass-produce its first consumer EV model in the first half of 2024.
Other innovations spotted by Springwise that aim to make EV technology more efficient include AI that helps city planners build EV charging networks, smart charging that reduces the carbon footprints of EVs, and new technology that could revolutionise EV charging infrastructure.
