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  • TUESDAY FEBRUARY 28 2006 11:10 PM

Zero to 60 in 4... on Soy!

Submitted by Shal

Edited by Shal

The star of the recent Philadelphia Auto Show is a sportscar that gets 50 miles to the gallon, goes from zero to 60 in four seconds, runs completely on soybeans... and was designed and built by a few "high risk" high school kids from West Philadelphia High School.

The five kids, along with a handful of schoolmates, built the soybean-fueled car as an after-school project. It took them more than a year — rummaging for parts, configuring wires and learning as they went. As teacher Simon Hauger notes, these kids weren't exactly the cream of the academic crop.

"We have a number of high school dropouts," he says. "We have a number that have been removed for disciplinary reasons and they end up with us."

One of the Fab Five, Kosi Harmon, was in a gang at his old school — and he was a terrible student. The car project has changed all that.

"I was just getting by with the skin of my teeth, C's and D's," he says. "I came here, and now I'm a straight-A student."

To Hauger, the soybean-powered car shows what kids — any kids — can do when they get the chance.

"If you give kids that have been stereotyped as not being able to do anything an opportunity to do something great, they'll step up," he says.

Stepping up is something the big automakers have yet to do. They're still in the early stages of marketing hybrid cars while playing catch-up to the Bad News Bears of auto shop.



If five high-risk students in Philly can put together a high-performance low-emission renewable-resource-run sportscar, why can't the big auto manufacturers figure out how to make them affordable?

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TheArcaneCircle

TheArcaneCircle

Silverdale, WA
October 2002

FEB 28, 2006 11:13 PM

So you think they cant do it? Or they just won't.

Shal

Shal

Los Angeles, CA
October 2002

FEB 28, 2006 11:20 PM

roguemind said:
So you think they cant do it? Or they just won't.



No, I most definitely know they just won't.

FrankMask

FrankMask

Saint Paul, MN
June 2003

FEB 28, 2006 11:23 PM

Okay, fuck them, then. How much did this cost to build and where can I get the blueprints?

Eddie

Eddie

SUICIDEGIRL

British Columbia, Canada

FEB 28, 2006 11:30 PM

mmmm soy car. I want to eat it.

ChestnutMonkey

ChestnutMonkey

I'm lost
April 2004

MAR 01, 2006 12:13 AM

Wow. I love upbeat news stories, however few they may be. Not only can these kids build a high performance, extremely efficient car that runs on renewable energy from [I}scratch, but they have a great sense of humor too! From the former gang member Kosi on Oil Companies:


"They're making billions upon billions of dollars," he says. "And when this car sells, that'll go down — to low billions upon billions."


Frenchy

Frenchy

San Francisco, CA
November 2004

MAR 01, 2006 12:18 AM

It's has been over 2 decades now that cars can run on "Bio Diesel" and still, a hand full use it.

This is a great concept but it will very much likely stay as a concept! No governments wanna see taxe money from the fossile industry vanish into smoke of Soybean ah!

It's a damn good looking car!! I want one!!!!

GammaRat

GammaRat

Seattle, WA
January 2005

MAR 01, 2006 12:24 AM

vermicious_knid said:
These guys need to patent their design, find investors, and put that motherfucker into production.

Even if it is just small scale .... they will make a mint.

Lets just hope that the big companies (combined with left wing politicians) don't regulate them out of existence and kill their business before it gets off of the ground, burying them in legal obstacles, road regulations, vehicle standards, etc....

for "the public good" of course.



Still living in that alternate reality were the right wing is really pulling for the little, guy eh? 1980 just called and Ronald Reagan wants his talking point back.

s5

s5

San Francisco, CA
OLD SKOOL

MAR 01, 2006 01:04 AM

vermicious_knid said:
These guys need to patent their design, find investors, and put that motherfucker into production.



While these kids are very smart and hardworking, and deserve all the praise they're getting, there's nothing here to patent.

s5

s5

San Francisco, CA
OLD SKOOL

MAR 01, 2006 02:56 AM

vermicious_knid said:
While they may have assembled it from existing items - their specific model and their specific design - is uniquely theirs. They should patent it and produce it, or patent it and sell those rights to someone else who would produce it.



It's a cool design, and I hope they are wildly successful, but there's prior art for everything they've done.

examples:

http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid386.php

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/02/gm_introduces_4.html

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2004/12/ford_to_unveil_.html

If these kids don't go into business, I hope this at least will be a wake-up to industry to get off their lazy asses.

whitepuma

whitepuma

Australia
March 2004

MAR 01, 2006 03:46 AM

The biggest problem here is not that the auto makers dont its they wont due to lost revenue and the fact that they are in bed with the oil companies. Over the years multiple non-petrochemical engines have been designed and built then brought out the either the oil companies or auto companies so to ensure the continueing use of fossil fuel.

Cold fusion was deveolped and made to work unfortunatley the inventors died in a tragic accident destroying both them and the plans of how to produce nuclear power without the use of radioactive materials. Sounds fishy to me like may be someone never wanted it to get out in the first place.

SYH

SYH

Redford, MI
February 2003

MAR 01, 2006 04:35 AM

Shalome said:

roguemind said:
So you think they cant do it? Or they just won't.



No, I most definitely know they just won't.



And how do you know that? Do you walk the halls of their respective Tech Centers?

NickFaust

NickFaust

USA
April 2004

MAR 01, 2006 04:40 AM

s5 said:

If these kids don't go into business, I hope this at least will be a wake-up to industry to get off their lazy asses.



Oh come now, they aren't lazy, they are raking in money hand over fist. Why should one go to the trouble of innovating when all you need to do is to pull the strings on a couple of politicians and stay very, very wealthy. Life is not forever you know, and you can't take it with you.

Skutch

Skutch

Portland, OR
December 2003

MAR 01, 2006 04:44 AM

That's one fine looking automobile... biggrin

attn_ho

attn_ho

Brooklyn, NY
February 2004

MAR 01, 2006 04:48 AM

fucking west philly hippy punks and thier fucking vegan cars. i bet the exhaust smells like chili!


I_Poop_Too_Much

I_Poop_Too_Much

I'm lost
February 2004

MAR 01, 2006 05:47 AM

dirtyprude said:
fucking west philly hippy punks and thier fucking vegan cars. i bet the exhaust smells like chili!




....life will never be more salivating.

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