Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless chemical compound, one of the alcohols that is most often found in alcoholic beverages. But lately everybody wants our cars to run this green combustible.
We have just uncovered even more evidence that there is a market for 21st century green super cars that look like classic 1960s Le Mans champions. It wasn’t too long ago that the Capstone Turbine Corporation unveiled the CMT-380 at the LA Auto Show. The Capstone was basically a hybrid powered Factory Five Ford GT-40 replica that charged the batteries with a compact micro turbine giving the CMT a range of 500 miles, a zero emissions mode and could run from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.9 seconds. Today we have just come across the Custom Corner Germany GT ecoVision, a bioethanol burning mid engine super car wearing a very appropriate carbon fiber front lip, rear diffuser and wing.
Although the CCG Custom GT ecoVision doesn’t offer a ZEV mode, it does run on a combination of LPG and E85 bioethanol. Powered by a 6.0 Liter V8 sourced from a Corvette, the LS series engine currently produces a total of 450 HP, and CCG is promising that a 570 HP version is on the way. Weighing in at only 2,300 pounds, the ecoVision will rip from 0 to 60 MPH in only 3.2 seconds, and while the CMT we talked about earlier could only do 150 MPH, the CCG’s top speed is 193 MPH, using nothing but alternative fuels. By combining a proven aerodynamic design with a lightweight fiberglass body CCG allows the GT ecoVision to make the most with what its got, and as a bit of a tongue and cheek environmentally friendly maneuver the super car’s standard color scheme is green; however customers can choose from any color they desire.
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In another installment of racing legend Derek Bell keeping Bentley enthusiasts around the world informed about the new lightweight Continental Supersport with a lap around the Nürburgring race track in Germany. The English coach builder has announced that the first deliveries of the new Continental Supersports will begin later on this month. Mr. Bell is famous for his in car commentary, even while moving along at 200 MPH. The crew from Crewe claim that the new 204 MPH luxury sports coupe is the most extreme Bentley road car ever produced by W.O.’s car company.
Aside from being able to cruise around at over 200 MPH in style and comfort, but the Supersports is also capable of running on E85 biofuel and represents a step forward and most of all Bentley’s commitment to alternative fuels and they ensure that their entire lineup will be capable of burning up to 85% ethanol by the year 2012. The new Continental Supersports is slated to be on sale in most markets around the world by the year’s end. A few of the first batch of Bentley super cars have already been spotted, but we won’t be seeing too many of them here in the U.S. filling up at an E85 pump until the middle of 2010, just in time for the good old summer hike in gas prices.
Derek Bell driving impression videos after the jump.
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After the recent success of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel at the Shanghai Motor Show, Youngman Auto, the lightweight English sports car builder’s Chinese partner has submitted a request that the concept go into production, at least for the Chinese market by the end of this year. The alternatively fueled Lotus made its debut at Geneva in 2008, and what set the car apart from normal flex fuel vehicles that can run on a blend of gasoline and ethanol, the Exige 270E adds methanol into the mix. It is no surprise that the Chinese are so interested in the Tri-Fuel, because back in 2007 China became the world’s largest producer and consumer of methanol. In 2008 nearly 1 Billion gallons of the alternative fuel was blended with gasoline in the panda loving country, and mixtures of methanol/gasoline are already available at many gas stations throughout the land.
Check out the diagrams after the jump to see how Tri-Fuel works.
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Following up Bentley’s recent 50-year celebration of the legendary 6.75-liter V-8, the company is readying a all-new model powered by biofuel. Currently, the car is known simply as the Extreme Bentley and it will debut in March at the Geneva Motor Show. While Bentley’s current top-performance car, Bentley Continental GT, puts out 600 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, Bentley says its new car will be the company’s “fastest, most powerful car ever” – those are some pretty big words if you ask us. More importantly though, the new biofuel-powered car is just the first phase in an initiative Bentley plans to spread across its lineup by 2012 with a goal to reduce carbon emissions of its overall fleet by 15 percent and, with an advanced new powertrain, help cut fuel consumption by up to 40 percent.
The Extreme Bentley sports a unique, but instantly recognizable Bentley design – briefly revealed in a teaser video Bentley showed on its Web site. Up front, the quad lamps and large mesh grille reflect the look of the Arnage, Azure, Brooklands and Continental, while the long hood and swept roofline should give the car an aggressive stance. The Extreme Bentley will mark the first flex fuel Bentley vehicle to which Bentley believes that bioethanol fuels, such as E85 in the United States, will become a sustainable and ethical alternative fossil fuels in the future. Short of the electric-powered Tesla Roadster, the Extreme Bentley, being such a powerful car that also takes the environment into consideration, should revolutionize luxury sport cars.
A British chemical company, Ineos, has found a way to alleviate prices at the pump by converting ordinary household trash into ethanol. The process involves burning the trash to produce gas, then feeding the gas to bacteria which in turn produce ethanol. They purify the ethanol into fuel to be used in cars. Claims are that 100 gallons of fuel can be made from one metric ton of dry waste. Ineos plans for commercial quantities to be produced within two years.
“In North America and Europe we will see around 10 percent or more of petrol (gasoline) being replaced with [ethanol],” said Peter Williams, Bio chief executive officer. “Our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and the world’s need for fossil fuels.” The heat that is recovered during the gasification and fermentation processes will be used to produce electricity.
E85.
That’s the mantra at General Motor these days.
Not only do they want to make cars that run on it, they want to make the oil companies sell it to you. If the oil companies won’t cooperate, then they’d like the federal government to force it on them.
But, could it be a huge mistake?
That’s the suggestion that comes from two distinguished reports, one in the journal Science, authored by scientists at Princeton and Woods Hole Research Center, and the other from the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy.
Guess what?
Ethanol contributes more to greenhouse gases than gasoline.
That’s what they say.
(more after the jump)
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FLEXIFUEL VEHICLES: PART OF FORD’S BROAD PORTFOLIO OF ENVIRONMENTALLY ADVANCED VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES
Ford is a European market leader in bio-ethanol powered flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). FFVs are part of Ford’s portfolio of environmentally advanced vehicle technologies which Ford is committed to offer at affordable prices to its customers. The portfolio includes further optimized conventional technologies (i.e. high tech clean diesel and advanced direct injection gasoline engines), (...)
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General Motors Announces Collaboration With State Of Colorado To Bring More E85 Ethanol Stations To The State
Colorado E85 Coalition Plans for Forty New E85 Ethanol Stations—Largest One-Time Announcement To-Date
DENVER – General Motors and Governor Bill Ritter’s Colorado E85 Coalition today announced plans for the addition of forty new E85 ethanol fueling locations to be opened throughout the state by the end of 2007. The new fueling locations will be promoted by GM as part of a (...)
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There will be at 21 eco friendly cars on show at the LA car show.
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With Yahoo Auto’s, you can now find the green rating for the car that you are interested in.
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