AFVTech working on CNG-powered, 600 hp 1933 Ford Roadster
Take something old – in this case, a 1933 Ford Roadster body – and make it into something new – a CNG-powered, 600 hp beast, perhaps. That's what's happening over at AFVTech, which is prepping the hot rod for the upcoming Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Institute expo that's coming in May. The company is using what President Kevin Fern called the "Natural Drive dedicated EPA-certified CNG retrofit systems" for clean-burning 600 horsepower. The conversion uses a modified General Motors LS7 7-liter V8 engine (used in the Chevrolet Corvette Z06), a six-speed transmission, drive-by-wire controls and ABS disc brakes.
AFVTech is also working with Arizona's Fountain Hills high school's research club on turning a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria into a hydrogen-powered vehicle.
[Source: Green Car Advisor, Green Car Congress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 2:50PM (9/27/2009)
Im interrested to buy. It will be nice too if they can sell along with the car a small home methane gas machines where you can make methane gas with sewage, grass, leafs, water, garbage, used engine oils, hydrogen + co2 reformate, bituminus sands, wood residues, chemical and industrial wastes, water from lakes, rivers, ocean, etc.
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3PeaceSweet 5:05PM (9/27/2009)
You could replace your lawn with medow grass or switchgrass and set up a small digester.
http://green.autoblog.com/2007/12/09/first-cellulosic-biomethane-station-to-be-opened-in-austria/
Or there are some micro-organisms which will give off methane when feeding on CO2 and being exposed to an electric current.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16902-bug-eats-electricity-farts-biogas.html
"Of the energy put into the system as electricity, 80% was eventually recovered when the methane was burned – a fairly high efficiency."
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Carney 3:09PM (9/28/2009)
Methane, such as from natural gas, can certainly be used as an alternative fuel, but it's a better idea to turn it into methanol - a cheap and simple process.
Unlike methane, methanol is a liquid at normal temperature and pressure, and needs no compression or cryogenic refrigeration. Thus methanol has no need of methane's expensive, heavy, bulky, insulated tanks that reduce safety and space and add prohibitive costs to transportation, storage, and use of the fuel.
Best of all, in a fully flex-fueled vehicle, methanol can be used in the same fuel tank as gasoline, without the driver needing to exhaust one fuel or the other first, or shut down and throw a switch. And a full FFV can also use other alcohols such as ethanol, propanol, and butanol.
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