With gas prices steadily rising, fuel efficiency and alternative fuel are all the rage now, and there’s a special buzz on the UD campus about powering vehicles.
The University of Delaware is a pioneer in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology which allows plug-in battery operated vehicles to charge from the main power grid and to discharge their stored power to the grid based on demand. Also UD has a hydrogen powered bus that gives off zero-emissions in its fleet of shuttle buses.
Recently, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk was on campus to speak about the production of Tesla’s all-electric sports car line and the need for a sustainable energy future.
But all of the above pale in comparison to a student’s effort at hybrid technology. Colin Sweeney ’11 has converted his ’86 Mercedes to run on a cooking oil and diesel.
Sweeney travels to campus each 
day from Townsend (about 30 miles south of Newark) and he tackled the project of converting the car due to the high price of gas. Combining his passion for working on engines and his knowledge of fluid mechanics and heat transfer, Sweeney is now rolling to school everyday in a Benz customized unlike any other.
When the car is started, it runs on diesel because the cooking oil has to reach a temperature of about 120°F before it can power the engine. Sweeney says getting the cooking oil hot enough is the trickiest part.
Now the trunk of the car is outfitted with a 20-gallon tank for the oil and using both sources of fuel, the car has a range of about 1,100 miles. Sweeney estimates that the car gets about 100 miles to the gallon.
No word yet on whether Sweeney has ever rolled up to a tailgate, busted open the trunk and started deep frying all kinds of food (mmm, car fries). These are the questions the UD Alumni Relations Blog demands to know!
Chemical engineering student modifies car to run on cooking oil [udel.edu/udaily]
V2G Home [udel.edu/v2g]
UD unveils hydrogen-powered bus that produces no pollutants [udel.edu/udaily]
Tesla CEO champions sustainable energy, space exploration [udel.edu/udaily]
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | cars, cooking oil, elon musk, fuel cell, genius, hybrids, let me ride, students, tailgating, tesla motors, UD, v2g
