Whether you are buying a flat-pack wardrobe or a bin racks unit, you want it to be easy to put together. If you agree, you cannot fail to be impressed by a truck that can, apparently, be put together as easily as a bookcase from Ikea.
The OX is the planet’s first ever flat-pack vehicle, and it can be shipped easily across the globe thanks to the reduced space it needs during transportation.
Its makers, the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT), believe it can have a multitude of uses, ranging from transporting water and building supplies to acting as an ambulance in some of the world’s poorest and inaccessible locations.
Easy Construction
Just like the best of Ireland bin racks, the OX is designed to be extremely easy to construct, and whilst its 12-hour predicted construction time is considerably more than goods typically shipped out from companies such as https://www.rackzone.ie/bin-racks, it is still pretty impressive for a working truck. It is transported in around 60 pieces and is accompanied by its own toolkit.
A Complete DIY Truck
The prototype for the OX was originally unveiled in 2013, but Torquil Norman, the founder of GVT, says the new version is more complete.
The British not-for-profit organisation – more details of which can be found at http://oxgvt.com/ – worked alongside Gordon Murray, a Formula One designer for almost 40 years, to create the OX.
It cost $3 million to test and refine the prototype of the vehicle, and around another $4 million will be needed to put it into large-scale production.
Norman claims that a trio of people could construct the OX in around half a day, and in its flat-pack form it can be transported much more easily than a normal truck. A 40ft shipping container, for example, can typically carry two assembled trucks but could accommodate six OX vehicles.
Lighter and More Efficient
It shares the ultra-light construction of a racing car, and Murray’s iStream manufacturing method means that the OX is typically 60 per cent more efficient and 20 per cent lighter to build than a traditional truck.
Whilst the frames of most trucks are created using solid steel, the frame of the OX is made of a bonded waterproof plywood composite. The truck’s design was inspired by the lightweight Africar rough-terrain vehicle.
