The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

“Using alternative energy sources does require some sacrifice on the part of the consumer (something most folks don’t want to accept),….”

Actually this is a misapprehension in many respects and especially if you’re talking about hybrid cars. Recently a group of high school kids, Black boys all who had been written off by the system as losers and dropouts, constructed a car which is now touring all the big auto shows around the world.

It’s about the same size and shape as a Lotus Exige, one of the most structurally advanced sports cars on the market, with an extruded spar aluminum monocot chassis, a very hot little race car for the Street… indeed.

With a conventional 1.8 L Toyota engine derived from the Celica, this little car weighs less than 2000 pounds, goes 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds, and gets an average EPA of 24 mpg.

In contrast, the sports car that these young kids built in their high school auto shop class goes 0 to 60 in 4.0 seconds, and has an average rated EPA of 51 mpg, on… get this this is great… bio diesel.

You can just stop by McDonald’s and fill up your tank on used french fry oil… literally.

When someone asked one of these kids (young car builders) why none of the major car manufacturers have built a comparable vehicle, he just smiled and held up an empty plastic motor oil bottle.