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We don't know about you, but we were doing far, far less productive things than Andrew Angelloti when we were 16. The green-minded youth -- a forum member over at Ecomodder -- has taken his 1988 Mazda pickup truck and converted it to run solely on electricity using $6,000 he'd earned as a part-time lifeguard.
Pretty dumb title and statement. Good for the teen. But I don't feel bad at all about my youth. This looks like some typical ecoguilt tripping articles that the enviromental extremist like to write. The same people that I don't care to associate with or support because they are self loathing, modern life loathing, human loathing negative people.
Personally, I'm happy with my life and don't regret my youth, especially my teen years.
No big deal, I converted my car to run on wood when I was 18, and it cost nothing. A pallet would take me 10 miles or more, and there was always demolition debris to keep it going.
Location: The Raider Nation._ Our band kicks brass
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I can applaud the kid for having a good technical mind and being able to work with his hands. Now he needs to work on being business savvy, and knowing if it was really worth doing.
He took a tiny little truck that can only haul two people. He loaded the entire bed with lead/acid batteries. That means he can't haul any other payload now. Plus, if he wrecks it, we then have an entire load of batteries all over the road.
It has a top speed of 55 mph, and only a 40 mile range. That means he is only going 20 miles from home. The last few miles will be very slow. He won't be on the highway.
He spent $6000 just so he could transfer his fuel costs to his parents. They are now paying to charge those same lead/acid batteries every night.
He would have been farther ahead both financially, and environmentally if he would have bought a diesel, Volkswagon Jetta. He could have modified it to run on used fryer oil for $1500. He could also have done no mods, and mixed fryer oil with diesel. There are still plenty of places giving the oil away.
During the summer I run straight fryer oil in my diesel tractor with no modifications.
This is the whole problem with the green movement. This kid truly believes that he is doing something for the environment. In reality, he transferred his costs and his pollution to somebody else. Out of sight. Out of mind.
I can applaud the kid for having a good technical mind and being able to work with his hands. Now he needs to work on being business savvy, and knowing if it was really worth doing.
He took a tiny little truck that can only haul two people. He loaded the entire bed with lead/acid batteries. That means he can't haul any other payload now. Plus, if he wrecks it, we then have an entire load of batteries all over the road.
It has a top speed of 55 mph, and only a 40 mile range. That means he is only going 20 miles from home. The last few miles will be very slow. He won't be on the highway.
He spent $6000 just so he could transfer his fuel costs to his parents. They are now paying to charge those same lead/acid batteries every night.
He would have been farther ahead both financially, and environmentally if he would have bought a diesel, Volkswagon Jetta. He could have modified it to run on used fryer oil for $1500. He could also have done no mods, and mixed fryer oil with diesel. There are still plenty of places giving the oil away.
During the summer I run straight fryer oil in my diesel tractor with no modifications.
This is the whole problem with the green movement. This kid truly believes that he is doing something for the environment. In reality, he transferred his costs and his pollution to somebody else. Out of sight. Out of mind.
Or he could of just bought a used Prius by selling his car and adding the 6k on top.
The "batteries are green" mindset doesn't consider how the batteries get charged or the energy loss involved in the charge/discharge cycle.
Although lead acid batteries aren't the best example, energy loss involved in the charge/discharge cycle is extremely small compared to energy lose in an internal combustion engine to heat and exhaust.
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