RMI Outlet
Plug Into New Ideas
Hypercars: The Next Industrial Revolution
Strong synergies between ultralight mass, ultralow drag, and hybrid-electric drive can produce attractive designs for superefficient cars (and many other vehicles). A realistic near-term 4–5-passenger…
How Not to Parachute More Cats
This classic publication describes one of RMI’s founding parables. The story of parachuting cats into Borneo illustrates the RMI principle of whole-system design. The authors…
Water 2010: Four Scenarios for 21st Century Water Systems
This report examines the challenges and uncertainties facing municipal water systems in 1996. The authors developed several hypothetical scenarios to envision what water systems will…
Ultralight Hybrid Vehicle Design: Overcoming the Barriers to Using Advanced Composites in the Automotive Industry
This paper describes the many diverse and important barriers that inhibit automakers’ adoption of advanced composite materials. The authors argue that a strategy to produce…
Reinventing the Wheels
This article describes a strategy for developing an ultralight car such as RMI’s Hypercar. The article describes the potential public benefits of Hypercars in terms…