Sunday, May 7, 2006

Plymouth businessmen burn a different oil

By BETHANY GORDON
Plymouth Bureau
bgordon@citizen.com
 

PLYMOUTH — A Plymouth business has taken a creative approach to the problem of reducing oil dependence in these times of high gas prices.

KTM Auto owner Kevin Maass has teamed up with friend Jared Woodcock to make a business of converting cars and trucks that run on diesel fuel into ones that can run on vegetable oil.

"When Rudolph Diesel first developed the diesel engine in the late 1800s he initially designed it to run on peanut oil," said Woodcock. "But at that time fossil fuels were cheaper, so it was less expensive to use regular fuel."

Woodcock and Maass each drive veggie oil-fueled vehicles as their primary transportation and advocate for the concept. "It's cleaner and you buy yourself more than double the gas mileage," said Maass, who said his Volkswagen car can get more than 50 miles per gallon of vegetable oil.

Vegetable oil does not completely replace petroleum-based fuel, which Maass said is still needed to warm up the car when it is first being used, and then to flush out the system when the car is about to be turned off for a period of time. Because vegetable oil is very thick, Maass said it must first be cooled down through the car's diesel system in order to be effective.

The process of converting cars from running on diesel to running on vegetable oil is relatively simple, said Woodcock. Though Maass and Woodcock convert cars at the auto shop for customers, they say it can be a do-it-yourself project as well.

"It's about 400 dollars worth of parts," said Maass. "We would charge people the parts plus labor, but people can actually do it themselves."

KTM Auto's website, www.ktmauto.com, features a full list of the necessary parts for converting a car. Though the conversions can bring good profits, Maass would prefer to keep customer conversions in moderation. "We wouldn't do it if someone had some great big truck or SUV that they drive 50 miles every day," said Woodcock. "If someone needed the truck for their job, then that's one thing. But if it was by choice, we would encourage them to get a smaller car first."

Because purchasing gallons of vegetable oil from the grocery store would most likely be more expensive than diesel fuel, Maass and Woodcock sought another source for their alternative fuel.

"There's a few local restaurants who donate their used (vegetable) oil to us," said Maass.

The converted cars still produce pollution, but Maass said vegetable oil cars smell a little sweeter than regular diesel engines.

"It basically smells like food. If it's oil from a Chinese restaurant it usually smells like Chinese food. If it's from other places then it smells like fries or whatever," said Maass. "When the guys from Rhino (bike shop) says it makes them hungry when they're doing their rides and we drive by."

Maass and Woodcock encourage others to look at vegetable oil alternative.

"It's a cool feeling being able to supply your own fuel," said Maass. "When it gets to the point where no one can afford fuel or it's not available, we'll still be driving around."
 

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