Building the "Zero-Carbon Car" out of a Miata, incl. biodiesel hybrid drivetrain

As a reader of our site, you very well may dream of driving a zero-carbon car. In fact, you may even dream of building it yourself, if you are fed up with the offerings of the established carmakers. There are numerous examples of individuals like yourself who have taken it upon themselves to build the car that they want, whether that car be a Shelby Cobra kit with a honkin' V8 under the hood or an electric motor. How about a Miata? Wanna know more?

William H. Kemp decided that he was going to write a book about cars, fossil fuels, emissions and alternative energy. Included in his plans were a car using a principle similar to what GM is planning with the Volt and its E-Flex siblings to showcase the solutions that he was writing about. I have not read his book, but I've watched the videos of his car, and I like it. A Miata seems like a sensible choice, being lightweight and having a straight-forward drivetrain which includes rear wheel drive. Using a biodiesel generator which charges on-board batteries and an electric motor, the car could in fact be sustainable transportation. Plugging the car into your home's outlets could be carbon-neutral if you had the right setup - think solar or wind power. The liquid fuels for the biodiesel engine could be grown sustainably as well, as could an alcohol fuel - especially if that were cellulosic biofuel.

Chapters six through the conclusion sound rather interesting, and look like they will cover the past, present and future of electric transportation. Also included in these chapters are a write-up of the build process of the Zero-Carbon Car, a Miata converted to plug-in hybrid electric operation. The car appears to have been built using technology which exists today. According to this website, the book should be released sometime this fall.

[Source: AZText]