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wolfwingshttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/17/eveningnews/main1329941.shtml
A decent-looking sports car that goes from 0-60 in four seconds, and still gets 50mpg.
On pure soy-bean oil bio-diesel.
Made by a group of high school drop-outs and no-accounts out of West Philly in their spare time.
A decent-looking sports car that goes from 0-60 in four seconds, and still gets 50mpg.
On pure soy-bean oil bio-diesel.
Made by a group of high school drop-outs and no-accounts out of West Philly in their spare time.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-01 08:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-01 09:05 am (UTC)Hell, the government could mandate a states-wide car trade-in, if they really cared about the planet. They could make EVERY american citizen trade in their old car for something like a hybrid, or something like in the above article, if they were manufactured. We can even make cars that run on WATER. I mean, c'mon.
But that means we would lose trade with too many countries, and GASP that's so much money lost! OH NOES THE MONIE. Who cares about the planet? It's all about the money. It's simply not cost effective to do such a crazy thing as that.
Ugh, I'll stop ranting before this comment gets any longer.
You're dead-on right...
Date: 2006-03-01 09:25 am (UTC)The other advantage of bio-diesel is that it can, and likely in the future would, be brewed at home instead of mass-produced. It's simple enough to make, it's likely to be made by local stores instead of relying on huge, expensive-to-build-and-hard-to-get-permits-for refineries. It's simple enough your corner gas station could make it, and hell it's the same fuel in this case the McDonald's inside the gas station uses to make french fries. =^.^=
BTW...
Date: 2006-03-01 09:26 am (UTC)Re: You're dead-on right...
Date: 2006-03-01 09:36 am (UTC)And to reply to your below comment - we'll have to work that out sometime. :} Though probably not in the very near future, due to living arrangements. x.x
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-01 10:39 am (UTC)Re: You're dead-on right...
Date: 2006-03-01 10:46 am (UTC)Or I can just head up to visit some time in the future. Again, you've got my phone number since I post it on-line publically. I may not answer right away, but I try to check my voice-mail at least once a day, and check my e-mail more frequently. :-)
Yeah, this is just an example that's rather more prominent.
Date: 2006-03-01 10:48 am (UTC)I'm just waiting to find out how much it cost to build that beasty myself, now. Because I'm willing to bet it wasn't that much. And if not... well, I've got me a loan to arrange. =^.^=
Well...
Date: 2006-03-01 10:49 am (UTC)I've certainly got the time to build it, I mostly lack the space to build it in right now.
Re: You're dead-on right...
Date: 2006-03-01 01:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-01 03:24 pm (UTC)Can't supply new vehicles the new fuel until there are new vehicles to sell to, can't have a egg without a chicken, and can't have the chicken without a egg and so forth...
And then someone is going to raise concerns about safety issues. Hell, if someone can sue for spilling burning hot coffee in their lap, then imagine what you can get for suing after crashing your car, and getting covered in boiling grease? And there is already talk about second hand fat coming from being near someone eating McDee's french fries, then imagine what brewhaha will come from people sitting behind a bunch of these cars on the highway in traffic?
Personally, my interest is up on this, but I see too many things standing in its way to make it go.
To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-01 04:44 pm (UTC)...and the point is that a group of low-incoming students were able to put this together. I'm willing to bet the most expensive part, far and away, would be that nice shell they made for it. That means it's likely something that can be assembled cheaply as a semi-kit-car, using several off-the-shell parts that are already in distribution and manufactured by other companies.
And bio-diesel isn't kept boiling like in a frech-fry vat. It's kept barely above room temperature, and some types don't even need to be warmed at all. It's still safer than being covered in gasoline, and how often do you know people to get covered in that from an accident in such a way that the 'soaked in gasoline' is their biggest concern? No offense, but that's a load of hooey. There's tons of bio-diesel cars on the road already, and they can run on plain diesel from the gas stations in any case. Bio-diesel is just a home-brew diesel-compatable fuel that burns cleaner (though with a more distinctive smell), in the end. It's not a completely new fuel economy like hydrogen or electric. And all these concerns about safety have never seemed to slow down the kit-car markets that much, if nothing else.
Buy one of these in a showroom? Not a chance in hell. Buy parts and plans for one and assemble it in your own garage? Sounds likely.
Re: To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-01 05:04 pm (UTC)I see the need for an infrastructure to produce and distribute the fuel because I do not see Mr and Ms Joe Six-Pack making thier own bio diesel in their own homes. If so many of the customers I work with on a daily basis can not even grasp the simplest of concepts when presented with illustrated diagrams and basic questions, even to just get off their asses to fix their own problem, then I am struggling to see these same people making a routine chore of brewing and pumping on their own. They are going to insist on someone else doing all the messy work for them.
And a kid built a breeder reactor (http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html) in his backyard too. Any one can do anything if they put thier mind to it. They can also blow themselves up along the way too, but that is a side point.
And being covered in boiling oil was a joke. Laugh damn you!!
And I doubt we will see a BD car in any show room soon, but it has started me to think about how something similar could be done.
Re: To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-01 05:34 pm (UTC)Re: You're dead-on right...
Date: 2006-03-01 05:54 pm (UTC)Re: To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-01 05:56 pm (UTC)Re: To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-02 03:53 am (UTC)As much of a technophile as I am, and hopeful about new ideas/technology, I am skeptical about this vehicle. I would like to see the readings from the tests they have done on the road and track with it.
I could say that I get 60 miles to the gallon, and 0-90 in 2.3 seconds in my PT Cruiser, but it is more believable when you actually see it do such feats.
Re: To answer your questions honestly...
Date: 2006-03-02 03:57 am (UTC)