Coffee-Powered Car Sets World Speed Record for Gasification Vehicle
Last year we told you about a car that runs entirely on coffee. Since then, while we’ve been writing about caffine-chugging bacteria and other, somewhat dubious, uses for your coffeemaker, the car-puccino’s creators were not content. The U.K. team have created an all new car, and this one just set a world record for the fastest gasification vehicle.
Like the previous model, this car was made in conjunction with the BBC program Bang Goes the Theory by engineer Martin Bacon and Durham England’s Teesdale Conservation Volunteers. This new iteration of the coffee car tops out at 66.5 mph, snatching the previous speed record from a wood chip powered vehicle. That car, from Beaver Energy, topped out at 43mph. The record breaking run is sure to turn some heads as the buzz around alternative energy vehicles reaches a fevered pitch.
To get this Rover SD1 to go on nothing but coffee grounds, the vehicle needs a few modifications.
In the rear of the vehicle, a roaster gasification thingamajig heats coffee grounds to about 1292ºF. At this temperature, the grounds produce something called syngas, which consists of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane. This mixture is piped into the engine where it’s used to power the vehicle normally.
Admittedly, 66.5 mph isn’t all that fast. In fact, it’s a full 3.5 miles below the speed limit of several Michigan highways. What’s more is if they haven’t improved the mileage since the coffee car’s first iteration, then it’s certainly not economical either. However, the goal here isn’t to be practical. Instead, the creators aim to turn some heads and prove that there are viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Now if they could just get it to cook some bacon and eggs at the same time.
(Coffee Car via Extreme Tech)
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