Biofuel-powered vehicles to vie for speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats

In Utah, car designers preparing for the Bonneville Speed Week have debuted a variety of high-speed biofuel cars. The biofuel-powered vehicles will challenge for world speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Ford’s Fusion Hydrogen 999 electric motor provides 750 horsepower and is expected to easily surpass the 315 mph achieved by the Buckeye Bullet in 2004, while the E85 Dodge Viper recently broke the world land speed record for the standing mile in a production car when it reached 220.7 mph.

A motorcycle running on B100 biodiesel set the world speed record for diesel motorcycles last year on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The bike, a BMW R1150 RT fitted with a two-liter turbodiesel BMW 3 Series car engine, achieved a speed of 210.203 km/h in trials. The motorcycle had reached 160 kph in California time trials and the bike makers have predicted that the bike can reach speeds of 260 kph.

Nascar is in talks with General Motors about introducing ethanol into the stock-car racing league’s fuel mix. The concept was broached by GM and reportedly a sticking point is NASCAR’s marketing partnership with Sunoco, which does not offer biofuels among its fuel brands.

The Indy Racing League uses 100 percent ethanol in its cars. Last month on the Bonneville Salt Flats, a motorcycle running on B100 biodiesel set the world speed record for diesel motorcycles. The bike, a BMW R1150 RT fitted with a two-liter turbodiesel BMW 3 Series car engine, achieved a speed of 210.203 km/h in trials.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

E85-powered Mustang Cobra Jet takes aim at NASCAR speed record at Talladega

In Alabama, an ethanol-powered Mustang FR500C will attempt to set a new NASCAR speed record at Talladega Superspeedway. The current record was set in 1987 in a Ford Thunderbird running 100 percent gas...

Motorcyle using B100 biodiesel sets world speed record for diesel motorcycles

A motorcycle running on B100 biodiesel set the world speed record for diesel motorcycles on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The bike, a BMW R1150 RT fitted with a two-liter turbodiesel BMW 3 Series car eng...

GM pushes ethanol for NASCAR racing

Nascar is in talks with General Motors about introducing ethanol into the stock-car racing league's fuel mix. The concept was broached by GM and reportedly a sticking point is NASCAR's marketing partn...

Biofuel-powered Skycar readies for London-Sahara test flight/drive

In the UK, designer Gilo Cardozo is readying his biofuel-powered Skycar for a London-to-Sahara journey. The Skycar uses a giant paramotor, attached to a car frame, for propulsion, and a flexible wing ...

Today in Biofuels: Virgin to fly 747 London-Amsterdam on B20 biodiesel; Amazon deforestation pace picks up; Chinese commence massive biofuel forest plantation with four tree varieties

Top Story:In England, Virgin Atlantic announced that it will make an 80 minute test flight next month using a B20 biodiesel blend. The biodiesel feedstock was not revealed, but the company said that i...

Daily Summary for Thursday August 9th

Top Story: The International Food Policy Research Institute warned that food prices could rise by 80 percent as more crop lands are used for biofuels. The organization called for more emphasis and sup...