Imagine pulling up to a petrol station, and rather than being offered the usual choice between 'regular petrol', 'Power' or 'Speed', the attendant asks "which wine will it be, a Sula Chenin Blanc or a Chateau Indage ?" - and your choice will be dispensed from the fuel dispenser right into your cars fuel tank. Seems like a weird dream ?
Well, if one new experimental car, called the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel, ever catches on, this scenario may not be so far-fetched. The specialised Exige is capable of running on an ethanol fuel made from wine that isn't up to drinking grade, or whey, which is also a byproduct of the cheese or chocolate-making process.
The car can also run on regular petrol (just in case you're out of fuel and still kilometers away from the nearest wine shop), as well as methanol, a fuel that can be made by extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere — potentially the ultimate carbon neutral fuel. The car is also capable of reaching 100 Km/Hr in less than four seconds, making it among the fastest road-legal cars in the world.
Vehicles that use fuels other than petrol or diesel are no longer just a concept of the future, but a definite possibility. As the global recession continues, more and more people are looking at greener and cheaper transportation options.
Although wine and cheese may seem like alternative fuels better suited for those with a prince's salary, the concept cars nevertheless represent a growing diversity of choice available to car buyers of the future.
LOTUS EXIGE: An alternative fuel vehicle that is equipped to run on wine, cheese or chocolate.
(Photo: Wiki Commons/GNU)
The Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel is still in the research and development phase, so it isn't available for purchase yet. However when it is ready you know what to show up in, at your next wine and cheese event :).
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