Biodiesel cars range from heavy-duty trucks like those run by the Safeway fleet1, to the two-seater Trident Iceni2 eight speed sports car. These cars run more efficiently on biodiesel.
For example next year the Loremo3 (low resistance model) will be affordable in the European market. The car that will boast an ability to go one hundred fifty miles on a gallon of biodiesel will cost the European consumer fifteen to twenty thousand dollars.
The Loremo is planed to be worked into American markets either in 2010 or 2011 as that years version of GT. Other versions that use different alternate fuel sources are also planned to be sold starting in one of those years. So for around thirty thousand dollars the consumer will be able to pick between fuel sources such as biodiesel, hybrid, and fully electric will be offered at car options. That is unless another fuel source pulls way ahead of biofuel at the new or interim energy source.
These engines are reported to run on biodiesel blends such as B20, or B100 for example. This labeling stands for what percent of the fuel actually is biodiesel. That means that B20 biodiesel is a fuel that is a mixture of twenty percent biodiesel and eighty percent petroleum diesel.
Fleets like the Safeway fleet do not run on B100. The mixture B20 biodiesel is that 20/80 ratio.
Many homemade biodiesel car systems run on B100 throughout the year, B50 in the winter, and also vegetable oil that has been filtered and has gone through the glycerin process another way. Its these projects that are the most interesting.
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee4 has steel fuel lines from the gas tank to the engine. The durable rubber tubes that support the fuel through the rest of the engine are lined with steel. This fuel system is durably manufactured to withstand harsh chemicals without a problem.
Rubber tubes in older cars fall apart under the corrosive strength of the methoxide in biodiesel. So the fuel lines and other tubes that will contain biodiesel are now much more durable than in older cars.
To run biodiesel in an older car, these tubes need to be traded out.
Companies such as Bio- Beetle5 are banking their entire marketing strategy on people wanting to rent diesel cars that run on biodiesel.
People who are tired of paying outrageously unaffordable fuel prices need these cars. These cars are designed to run on regular diesel. But everyone knows that he market these cars appeal to is that of the biodiesel enthusiast, mixing biodiesel themselves, and even growing crops for seed oil.
The country needs these cars to protect the environment. Industry needs to sell these biodiesel cars to meet the demand in America in the next few years. American are expected to at some point in the next few years be socially ready to shop smartly and create a demand large enough to consume six hundred million gallons of biodiesel.
These cars are designed to make very limited carbon emissions. The trend from diesel cars, to biodiesel cars is solely how the public, and target market perceive fuel on an emotional level.
Many companies are changing or extending the offering of vehicle choices to include versions of the car product line that run on diesel, which is meant to be synonymous with biodiesel.
What percent these biodiesel oriented diesel cars run best at remains to be seen, since more biodiesel runs thick and cloudy at temperatures below fifty-five degrees Celsius.
Even if the biodiesel sold in the wintertime is B50 for biodiesel cars that can run well on B100 in the warmer months, the benefit to the environment, and Americas move toward self-reliance at this stage is incredible.
Rudolf Diesel himself introduced the Diesel Engine at the Worlds Fair as an engine that runs on peanut oil. After greedier than need be corporations gota hold of the engine, and the popular Diesel name that all changed. It is the original intent that Mr. Diesel offered to the world that the biodiesel car in now taking back as an icon for everyone to enjoy.
- Safeway Fleet [↩]
- Trident Iceni [↩]
- Loremo [↩]
- 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee [↩]
- Bio-Beetle [↩]
