Etiopia open source and off-road vehicle

After almost eighty years, Italy is ready to return to Ethiopia. As of then, the goal is the same: “Bring progress where a man was born,” but the means are different. Etiopia (IT for Ethiopia) is the concept for an open-source off-road racing vehicle designed to cross the most inhospitable and wild territories at high speed: grasslands, savannahs, deserts, mountains, and swamps. Its reference race is the Dakar. The project aims to solve the contradiction between the track and the off-road in an innovative way. The bodywork is sinuous and tapered with different avant-garde aerodynamic solutions (front wing, side wings, and diffusers) deriving from the track (e.g., Le Mans). At the same time, the frame is suitable for withstanding the roughness of uneven ground by inspiring the best kind of off-roads, the Mars rovers. Two electric motors drive Etiopia, arranged one on the front and the other on the back. They are powered by a battery pack and recharged by solar panels and KERS. The four wheels are all pneumatically traction and steering, with an independent pneumatic traction and damping system. The tires are empty and puncture-proof. The tread is studded on the sides to ensure tightness in curves and bumps and slick at the center to ensure maximum smoothness. A spare wheel for the most serious damage is hidden under the hump. LED headlights for the front and rear lighting are scattered at various points of the car.