Saab's new 9-5 2.0T Biopower sedan runs on regular boring old gas and pumps out a respectable 148 horses. But, because its an FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), fill it up with E85 ethanol (or grain alcohol to you, rummy) and, with the turbo (especially suited for use in ethanol powered vehicles because of ethanol's higher octane), the power is boosted to 184 horses while reducing the bulk of emissions and using a renewable energy source. Only problem is that there are only a little over 300 ethanol fueling stations in the US, it should be noted that the car is not aimed at the US market so our loss is Europe's gain (though not for long). [More Inside]
Read about it last night in the latest issue of Popular Science. Previous MeFi ethanol post.
posted on Jun 17, 2005 - View this thread

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Motorbike Unveiled (BBC link, no reg. req.)
The Emissions Neutral Vehicle (ENV), has a top speed of 50mph (80km/h), a range of at least 100 miles (160km) and can run continuously for four hours before the fuel cell needs recharging.
What's more, the bike's "exhaust" is water vapor and is so clean that its drinkable.
Concerns are that the bike is too quiet and plans have been made to add a motor sound to the bike so as to not startle pedestrians. Though I must admit to kind of liking the idea of "stealth mode" motorcycling.
A sort of follow up to this post.
posted on Mar 16, 2005 - View this thread