The strength to weight ratios for the mentioned Maple, Plywood, and MDF are all lower in compression, tensile, and shear strength, than that of the cheap grades of aluminum or steel. What a load of Bull-crap. When is the last time you saw a baseball player bust an aluminum bat over his knee?
Wood also splinters into sharp spears that impale people in crashes. Trust me there are a million reasons why we stopped making vehicles out of wood. It swells when wet. It splits when dry. It burns. It grows and shrinks a lot with temperature. It rots. Bugs Eat it. The neighbors dog could chew your car all up. the sun degrades it. It has a grain to it and is much weaker in some directions than others. It does not have uniform properties from tree to tree or branch to branch as it was a unique living thing subject to disease and environmental conditions during its growth. The type of wood composite construction shown is very labor intensive. I could go on forever.
That big engine sitting behind the driver will go up his ace if that thing crashes.
I'm glad this deathtrap looks a long way from the testing phase still.
Wood is affected a good deal more by humidity than temperature. This baby would not be a good idea to take back and forth from AZ to FL.