Another PHEV conversion - this time Miata (MX-5)

looks like snake oil

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(etyler88 @ Sep 4 2007, 02:58 PM) [snapback]506896[/snapback]</div>

Not to me. To me it looks like a demo vehicle to sell his new book. It's not a revolutionary new concept to take a small sports car and replace the drivetrain with a hybrid system consisting of a generator and a electric motor. Mother Earth News had plans in their magazine back in the 70's to do the same thing to a Opel GT. They still have them available if you want a set.

 

I'm confused. How can it be zero carbon if it uses a gasoline engine?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ServoScanMan @ Sep 5 2007, 05:12 AM) [snapback]507220[/snapback]</div>

I doesn't use a gasoline engine. It uses a generator powered by a small diesel engine running biodiesel. Biodiesel returns more energy than is used to produce it (2x to 7x depending on the plant) and the carbon that is released when biodiesel is burned comes from the carbon absorbed from the air by the plant the biodiesel was made from. The effect is net zero carbon.