Blog A 60 MPG Greasecar hydrogen hummer hybrid
by Catherine LaineOctober 25th, 2007
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A 60 MPG Greasecar hydrogen hummer hybrid
No, I didn’t hit my head too hard when getting out of bed this morning. I just got my November Fast Company featuring Jonathan Goodwin: Motorhead Messiah
Goodwin leads me over to a red 2005 H3 Hummer that’s up on jacks, its mechanicals removed. He aims to use the turbine [–a 1985-issue turbine engine originally designed for the military] to turn the Hummer into a tricked-out electric hybrid. Like most hybrids, it’ll have two engines, including an electric motor. But in this case, the second will be the turbine, Goodwin’s secret ingredient. Whenever the truck’s juice runs low, the turbine will roar into action for a few seconds, powering a generator with such gusto that it’ll recharge a set of “supercapacitor” batteries in seconds. This means the H3’s electric motor will be able to perform awesome feats of acceleration and power over and over again, like a Prius on steroids. What’s more, the turbine will burn biodiesel, a renewable fuel with much lower emissions than normal diesel; a hydrogen-injection system will then cut those low emissions in half. And when it’s time to fill the tank, he’ll be able to just pull up to the back of a diner and dump in its excess french-fry grease–as he does with his many other Hummers.
Oh and this 5,000 pound vehicle goes 0 to 60 in 5 seconds.
With a $5,000 bolt-on kit he co-engineered–the poor man’s version of a Goodwin conversion–he can immediately transform any diesel vehicle to burn 50% less fuel and produce 80% fewer emissions. On a full-size gas-guzzler, he figures the kit earns its money back in about a year–or, on a regular car, two–while hitting an emissions target from the outset that’s more stringent than any regulation we’re likely to see in our lifetime.
But the most jarring part of the article is this:
As he points out, his conversions consist almost entirely of taking stock GM parts [emphasis added] and snapping them together in clever new ways. “They could do all this stuff if they wanted to,” he tells me, slapping on a visor and hunching over an arc welder. “The technology has been there forever. They make 90% of the components I use.”
So, uh what was that you were saying Toyota, et. al?
Related Resources
Earth Day Pimp My Ride (featuring Ah-nold and Goodwin) from MTV
Biodiesel turbine, super capacitor, series hybrid… HUMMER! (60 MPG and 0-60 in 5 seconds) from Auto Blog Green
Crude Ideas from Fast Company
This isn’t rocket science from Tiny Choices
SAE Energy (Goodwin’s Company)
