Car Hacker’s Hummer Gets 60 MPG
If you haven’ heard of the Motorhead Messiah, Jonathan Goodwin, let me introduce you: he hacks cars for a living, and he can get 60 mpg out of an H3 Hummer while doubling the horsepower and cutting emissions in half. Unbelievable? Yes, but this is no joke, and it’s doesn’t defy the laws of physics either. The hacked H3 is a hybrid with the gasoline fuel system removed. In its place, Goodwin installed a biodiesel-burning jet turbine to recharge the electrical system:
Goodwin leads me over to a red 2005 H3 Hummer that’s up on jacks, its mechanicals removed. He aims to use the turbine 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, yeah, he adds, the horsepower will double–from 300 to 600.
Power and Efficiency? The notion seems contrary to everything we’ve seen from the auto industry in the last 20 years. But Goodwin is disproving the ’status quo’ by concrete example, the Hummer hybrid being one of many. He’s gotten 100 mpg out of a Lincoln continental and developed a bolt-on kit for diesel engines that doubles fuel economy and reduces emissions by 80%. Goodwin’s a model iconoclast, with a love for the environment and big vehicles.
So Goodwin decided to prove that environmentalism and power could go together–by making his new lemon into exhibit A. First, he pulled the gas engine so he could drop in a Duramax V8, GM’s core diesel for large trucks. Diesel technology is crucial to all of Goodwin’s innovations because it offers several advantages over traditional gasoline engines. Pound for pound, diesel offers more power and torque; it’s also inherently more efficient, offering up to 40% better mileage and 20% lower emissions in engines of comparable size. What’s more, many diesel engines can easily accept a wide range of biodiesel–from the high-quality stuff produced at refineries to the melted chicken grease siphoned off from the local KFC.
Goodwin’s endorsement of diesel engines makes sense, and he has a 3-part plan to wean the nation from gasoline. First, aggressively mass-produce diesel passenger vehicles. Converting just 1/3 of our nations passenger vehicles and light trucks to diesel would eliminate Saudi Arabian oil imports. Second, start producing diesel-electric hybrid cars, the holy-grail for biodiesel enthusiasts. After reading this article I’m convinced it’s possible (the whole ‘diesels are too heavy argument’ is ridiculous). And third, produce hybrids with a dual fuel mode, such as hydrogen or propane injection. I’ve heard of propane injection, which shoots a small amount of propane into the combustion chamber along the diesel fuel, increasing mileage, horsepower, and decreasing emissions.
“Detroit could do all this stuff overnight if it wanted to,” he adds.
For a thoroughly interesting read, see the FastCompany.com article (November 2007).
Related Posts:
How to Get 76 MPG
GM Unveils The E85 ‘Green Hummer’ (Runs on Ethanol)
Biodiesel Guide: 7 Steps to Buying a Diesel
First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel
How to Get Infinity MPG: Fisker’s Eco-Chic Karma vs Chevy Volt
Germans Release 117 MPG Diesel Sportscar: Biodiesel, Anyone?
Forget about the big 3 or any other major auto manufacturer trying to build a 100 mpg car anytime soon, at least in in this country. Technology is there now!
Big oil companies run this country and don’t you forget it. Imagine having their profit margins go down the drain. This will not happen. Only in the private sector will someone put out a fuel efficient car but never be able to produce it in vast numbers. It is a sorry fact, but that’s the free enterprise system for you. Chevron, BP, Exxon Mobile and the rest want those yearly profits up and John Q. public has nothing to say about it. Just do it on you own and keep a low profile.
I have a 1995 H1 truck with a naturally asperated diesel that has a cracked block, does a diesel to gas (big block or small block) conversion kit exist?
Well others have apparently noticed that the pict. is an H1 not an H3. Now if this guy wants to get anywhere he needs to get on something like 20/20 or something that can/will do investigative reporting. He needs to get this thing independently validated by a 3rd party. Then maybe he could do kits or maybe even resell the idea. bio-diesel is cool by me. It would be nice to see soybean oil producing farms.
He makes serial hybrids, which have fewer moving parts than today’s parallel hybrids. And by using a turbine that is hyper-efficient at a single speed to spin a generator, he adds even more efficiency. All of this has been obvious in an engineering sense for many years.
The next step is single-unit wheel/motor assemblies. I believe a company in The Netherlands is producing buses and trucks with motor/wheel drive trains.
No new technology is needed for any of this. Strictly off-the-shelf. Surprising that at least one major carbuilder hasn’t gone this route — and, sadly, I believe we’re more likely to see this kind of breakthrough vehicle come from India’s Tata or China’s Chery than from a U.S. company.
Now if we can get automobiles converted to use bio-fuels we don’t have to cut down forests to grow palm-oil or change current farming procedures in the world to create perceived ‘food-shortages’. All we need to do is have farmers (or have folks invest into) buying land in dry and poor soil conditions to grow the Jatropha plant for bio-Diesel Fuel … in addition to recycled bio waste into a bio-fuel, I think it is an interesting and plausible idea achieve these goals.
Sorry forgot link to Jatropha plant site:
http://www.jatrophaworld.org/index.html
Bolt on kit? You people must be joking. This guy probably spent on the order of $80-100 thousand dollars on his truck to save a few thousand a year in gas bills. Unless you think you can got to your nearest Wal Mart for the gas turbine, the super capacitors, the computer controllers, the Duramax diesel, etc.
Give me a break. Until this is independently verified, it is vaporware, if not outright lies.
While I have read this article and really want to believe in Mr. Goodwin, I have tried several times to contact him and his company. If his technology works so well why doesn’t the government require it in all new vehicles?
[...] if I was going to spend that kind of money $60K I would more likely be interested in doing like this for a bit more $$$. __________________ GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!! - GOD BLESS [...]
Magic Mate Magic! Looking at converting My 2000 4 cylnd turbo-diesel Nissan Patrol to dual fuel, this has helped me make the decision. Do you have any other advice or links I could look at. From downunder.