Entries Tagged as 'green'

Price sensitivity of alternative fuels

Posted on April 10th, 2009 by DanR Admin

I want to share a reader comment on the WVO Retailers Suspending Service post.

We have a company in Southern California that collects, filters and sells WVO and were also surprised at the price sensitivity our customers have for this product. For all of the environmental purist rhetoric it apparently still comes down to money talks for far to many folks. It’s enough to make me want to rethink our business model. Let someone else fight the global warming problem.

In my experience, this is sad but true. There is a core of vegcar (and other alternative fueled vehicle) owners who are willing to pay a little more to help reduce their carbon footprint. Putting green (energy) ahead of green (backs), if you will. Most people, however, are motivated by price. This is why I believe that we are only going to see significant change in energy consumption in this country, when one of the following happens:

  • Gasoline is back above $4 per gallon
  • Alternative fuels become cheaper than gas/diesel at the pump
  • The air is no longer breathable
Categories: 300d, Misc., cold start, diesel, svo, taxes, wvo // Add Comment »

Automakers still don’t get it.

Posted on April 10th, 2009 by DanR Admin
It is pretty sad that the auto industry is designing new SUVs, some of them V8’s! This is from today’s story in the New York Times on the New York Auto Show.

The roughly $85,000 BMW X6 M is a four-passenger 4,800-pound crossover with a thirsty 555-horsepower V-8 engine — hardly the stuff a greener, more modest future. And while Mercedes offered rides to reporters in its ML450 hybrid S.U.V., which goes on sale in December, it also unveiled a new E63 AMG supersedan with a 518-horsepower V-8.

It seems to me, the automakers are going to continue missing the boat. Refreshingly, there was one paragraph about efficient diesel cars.

Diesels, which are high-mileage rivals to hybrids, generated interest with VW’s announcement that it would sell a diesel Golf with real-world highway figures in excess of 50 miles a gallon, and with Mercedes’s plan to consider frugal 4-cylinder diesels in larger luxury cars sold in America.

Categories: Mercedes Benz, News, diesel // Add Comment »

Electric Vehicles – 150 miles on a charge

Posted on November 9th, 2007 by DanR

Hybrid Technologies, Inc. boasts of a lithium battery system that will allow drivers to travel 150 miles after charging the batteries for 6 hours.

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Categories: Electric Vehicles, Hybrids // Add Comment »

CNN Story

Posted on November 9th, 2007 by DanR

Here is a story from CNN on vegcars.

Categories: News, conversions // 2 Comments »

Earth Day

Posted on April 20th, 2005 by DanR

At Earth Day I saw my first veggie oil diesel conversion. My friends, Mark and Mia, had their VW Passat converted in Sant Cruz. I honestly didn’t believe that it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes. I knew then and there that I would go the SVO route.

The research began the next day.

Categories: Uncategorized // Add Comment »