Thread: Green Cars (Hybrids and More)

I've put ALOT of thought into ways to ween drivers off oil. No one thing is perfect but there are plenty of ways to get close. I see all these auto makers doing ONE thing or the other. Some have decided to go hydrogen, some E85, some electric, and still others gas/elect. hybrid. What would you ultimate "Green" car have.

I have a few. For diesel vehicles the answer requires some effort. You can run MOST ANY diesel vehicle on fryer grease from any fast food place and even off cooking oil you get at the store. The benefit to fryer grease is that it's free. These companies PAY a service to come collect the grease which is then discarded. You simply have to ask the manager if you can have some of it. He/She will gladly give you as much as you want. Second you have to have 2 tanks in your car. You'll need to filter the grease and put it in your larger fuel tank. There are many kits avail. online. (The oil must also be heated) The effort is this, you have to start and shut down the car on diesel in order to keep the grease from congealing in the lines causing a clog. It's a simple switch and many trucks have 2 tank options. No modifications to your computer or fuel system are required (minus the tank addition) and you get BETTER fuel economy.

Now for ethanol. Part of the cost for E85 is gas (15%) and part for the ethanol. Ethanol production requires diesel farm equip. to grow and harvest the corn (bad ethanol base) for conversion. FIRST switch the farm equip. to bio-diesel (fryer grease). Then use Sugar cane ethanol instead. Corn must be converted from a carbohydrate to a sugar to an alcohol. Sugar cane is already a sugar eliminating that first process. Next, sugar cane ethanol is 7x more combustible which results in far better mileage than corn. The cost to make sugar cane E85 is already less than corn AND with a bio-diesel switch in equip. the cost is even lower.

Some of the problems with E85 is it's avail. I have to travel to get it for my truck which is not worth it. The other part is supply. We don't allow imports at a reasonable cost from Brazil because "The low cost will subvert our efforts to upstart the corn ethanol base in the US" Bullsh*t. I think that if you create the supply then the demand will grow, as the demand grows then the supply will need to meet it and our suppliers will start to gain traction. I think we need the help to get it started. I don't care about the $$ as long as we can make real progress. Until E85 cost less per mile than Gasoline it won't take hold.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

U.S. corn-derived ethanol costs 30% more because the corn starch must first be converted to sugar before being distilled into alcohol. Brazilian distillers are able to produce ethanol for 22 cents per litre, compared with the 30 cents per liter for corn-based ethanol.

Also take a gas/elect. hybrid. The electric is fine and with energy recovery even better. Take the gas part and replace it with a flex fuel (E85/Gas compatible like my Dodge Ram) /elect. hybrid and you have a great combination. When on electric your totally green and on E85 you're mostly green. Win win. The addition of a roof solar panel could help too.

Hydrogen is not a good idea as it is used now. The coal burned to make the hydrogen (processing) far outweighs the benefits. It's a good thought but not green as they would like you to think.

Now if they made a car that ran on beer filled urine many of us here would have limitless gas to provide.



If anyone has any idea how I can communicate these ideas to the people that can make it happen please let me know. I'd run for office if I could but I don't think I meet all the requirements.

My Explorer runs on both ethanol and regular gas. I have never tried the ethanol yet. Someone told me once you start using ethanol in your vehicle that you cant go back to regular gas. This didnt sound right to me. Does anyone know if this is true or not ?

Originally Posted by DanicaRules

My Explorer runs on both ethanol and regular gas. I have never tried the ethanol yet. Someone told me once you start using ethanol in your vehicle that you cant go back to regular gas. This didnt sound right to me. Does anyone know if this is true or not ?

That someone is a moron. They wouldn't make it a "Flex-fuel" vehicle if you could un-flex it. I switch back and forth all the time. Your engine has sensors that read the ethanol/gas ration and self adjust accordingly. You run 10% ethanol everyday as it is since US gas contains up to 10% by law. You will notice that there is increased performance similar to switching from regular to top grade premium, but with some mpg loss. Feel good knowing you're doing something for the environment.

Yeah, I didnt think that was true. I might someday use it. Right now, in my immediate area, its not plentiful.

Originally Posted by DanicaRules

Right now, in my immediate area, its not plentiful.

Same here. Kroger has started to carry it more. One place withing an hours drive to me has it. Fortunately it's only 10-15 min. from here so if I end up near it I get some.

Although, I feel we should start seeing quite a few places selling it since just this year, there was an ethanol plant built in our city. My cousin works there too.

I forgot to mention that many cars may be retro-fit to run E85 ethanol, BUT you must change out you rubber fuel components with stainless. E85 is an alchohol and can dry out the rubber and if I'm not mistaken it has some corrosive properties.

UPDATE: This conversion in "illegal" according to the EPA. So much for the environment.

Ok so my latest theories on green cars:

One thing I've noticed is that there are these "Hybrid" cars that are Gas / Electrics. Meh. That's a start but let's look at a few things. You have to plug in some of these cars which still uses fossil fuels. Now not ALL are that way but still. This is a good start but here are my improvements.

Gas / Electric needs to have, rather than gas, E85 OR Diesel and electric. At least if it's using gas we can use a better form. I know you're saying "Is Diesel really much better?" Well here's why I say Diesel. Better mileage (typically) and the ability to use bio-diesel and fryer grease etc. This allows users to get that free fuel from McDonalds and also reduces that waste that would have had to be disposed of. This = 3 benefits: FREE fuel, less waste, and better mileage. E85 is better that straight gas but not by much. You can see the E85 posts in this thread.

In addition to a better gas portion of the hybrid I think the electric part can be improved as well. Let's add brake energy recovery tech. (which many already use) AND toss a solar panel on the roof. The thought is that while driving the brakes charge the car AND (more than while driving) the solar can charge the batteries while your car is parked at work.

Take my Scion tC. I have an all glass roof. I would be ok replacing the whole top with solar and having a diesel / electric hybrid. Now some people would prefer the sun roof etc. and that's cool. You could always have separate panels allowing for a sun roof, just not an all glass roof. Or just a "green" version for those who are less concerned with the roof thing.

Other options include natural gas, propane, hydrogen etc. The easiest thing to do with current tech. is, IMO, what I have suggested.