A drop of ingenuity to help save the planet

This story first appeared in the March issue of EVtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

Ira Munn’s vision of a low-cost kitset electric single-seater is taking shape.

Munn explained his Auckland-based company Ierospace Industries International’s plans to build the “Drop” from recycled plastic drink bottles using hardener additives and a 3D printer to an “Accelerator” student class at nearby Ormiston Junior College.

A prototype of the tear-drop shaped car (hence the name) should be ready by October and delivery of the kitset to customers could start in early 2019, Munn says.

The group of 24 students aged 11-14 were among the first in New Zealand to see a device critical to the Drop’s function.

The “efficiency circuit”, as Munn calls it, is a box sent from Los Angeles which amplifies power safely.

A demonstration to the students certainly got their attention as Munn hooked up eight AA batteries equalling 12 volts to the small box and a 100W LED light to produce a near-blinding light.

“This is considered impossible as the 100W LED usually needs more than 24 to 36 volts to light up,” he says.

Munn then held the light and attached cables under water to show the device is unaffected by water and doesn’t cause a shock. The light also produces no detectable heat.

The device was developed by Andre Williams of Regenerative Electrical Power Systems (REPS), a Los Angeles subsidiary of Ierospace.
It’s possible the efficiency circuit could be licensed for use in other areas.
Ormiston principal Luke Sumich suggested the light would be good for night fishing on his boat.

Meanwhile, Munn says the 3D printer that will produce the Drop’s body will be finished after the company’s next funding round closes in a few weeks.

A model for the Drop’s body is already available. A “California Commuter” chassis has been provided by American aerospace engineer and inventor Douglas Malewicki who has met with Munn several times, the latest at a recent conference in New Zealand.

Malewicki developed the three-wheeled fuel-powered car in the 1980s and helped Munn with the Drop, which uses electric power to drive the rear wheel.

Munn told the students the Drop would be strong, safe and legally able to travel on motorways at up to about 110kmh. He expects the kitset to cost about $10,000 with customers able to assemble it in under 20 hours without technical expertise.

After trialling the Drop in New Zealand, Munn plans to export it worldwide, particularly to India, Indonesia where many use motorcycles, China, Thailand and other countries, possibly under licence.

“We could even get people to put their own designs on a website and they could then go to their nearest Ierospace facility where it would be built.”
Munn also hopes to use solar panels on vehicles.

One of the key reasons for developing the Drop is to recycle plastic and prevent it getting into the environment and even the food chain, Munn told students.

“it’s a real issue,” Munn says, describing the great rafts of plastic filling parts of the ocean, a problem the Volvo Ocean Race is highlighting during its Auckland stopover until March 18.

Munn says even when the Drop reaches the end of its useful life it can possibly be recycled.

“We want to chop it up and use the plastic for another vehicle or something else.”

His story featured in the EVtalk September 2017 issue.