If cars can run off of vegtable oil then why dont people do it?

Question

If cars can run off of vegtable oil then why dont people do it?

Answer 1

i got a book to learn how to do this and you need a garage or workshop because the process is only worth doing if you have HUGE amounts. It is quite an elaborate process, takes time and effort and knowhow.

Als, fresh oil can only be put straight in when it has been heated, or else it is too viscous, so you need some extra thing that heats the oil before it gets too the engine, and fresh oil is not cost effective anyway.

I decided to not do it - I don't have a car.

Answer 2

4 reasons I can think of.

1, the conversion kits are hard to come by and install by yourself

2, any warranties the car has would be voided

3, vegetable oil isn't much cheaper and in some cases more expensive than gas

4, gas stations don't sell vegetable oil by the gallon, you might find yourself stranded and smelling like burnt fries.

Answer 3

I don't know but it's a great question. I hope someone knows.

Answer 4

i agree! i dont know how it works, but im sure with time it will become more popular!

Answer 5

it would be to easy, the people in government are not there to make life easy for us, but to make themselves rich and destroy our planet.

Answer 6

Think for a moment:

For nearly a century, technology has built industry around the gasoline engine. To have cars run off of vegetable oil would require paying research scientists to come up with a viable engine design, which would cost tons of money. Then, tell the car manufacturers to radically alter their production capabilities to change engines to vegetable oil as a fuel. This would impact the corporate profit margin by a HUGE degree, which could likely drive struggling auto-makers and engine maker companies right out of business when Research and Development costs outweigh current sales volumes. It's really just about money, thats why.

Answer 7

It can only be done by some Diesel engines, not all. How many cars do you know with the right type of engine? I, by accident own one of these cars (a VW passat diesel from 2000, the present Passat are NOT suitable) and have tried it, it works but the engine has a bit less power and smells funny!

Answer 8

it requires that your make a modification to your car. and its only diesel cars that you can do it too, and have you ever tried to keep your self in gallons and gallons of oil? not easy.

my cousin had one, and it was soooo funny to see him beg Macdonald's for their French fry oil, it didn't smell bad, just like fastfood on the road.

Answer 9

Because of the price of vegetable oil is higher per gallon then diesel fuel, (with the taxes added if you don’t pay the tax on vegetable oil when you use it as fuel you can go to jail).

Also it would pull food out of the supply chain.

Now if you really want something to think about, a while back (1970’s) the government started a program to produce oil from algae. This was in response to the oil “shortage”. With your tax dollars they found a strain of algae that would produce 50% of its weight in oil. There were a few small test plants in universities. But the price of oil went up and the “shortage” suddenly disappeared and the need for us to become self-sufficient disappeared also. Had the government continued the program we wouldn’t need much if any fuel oil. You can grow algae in places where normal food crops won’t grow and thus not use food for fuel. There have been studies that conclude we could grow enough algae to supply ALL our fuel needs and heat our home. But at the time the price of algae oil was projected to be more then crude oil so the government pulled the funding.

Of course this would mean most cars would be diesel, but does it really matter if you use gasoline or diesel to go from place to place.

Also without the need for much oil, we wouldn’t need to police the entire world to ensure the world has a steady supply, but without the will, it’s not going to happen. Hopefully the people working on producing algae oil will meet with success and with the high price of crude oil might even make a few dollars. Because if they can make a profit then people will flock to it and we would be all but free from crude oil.

It’s a nice dream and I hope it comes true, but while I’m dreaming I want a pony too.

Answer 10

Cars cannot run off of vegetable oil without expensive modifications.  Vegetable oil is also more expensive than diesel oil.

Answer 11

i haven't seen a vegtable oil pump at any gas stations.. i don't think my car is set up for running on that either lol.

Answer 12

A) the cars have to be made as diesels. B) diesel cars are rare. C) it takes many gallons of veggy oil (biodiesel) a week, and that has to be processed to a degree. there is a growing number of bio-diesel processors, as the need is growing, but you need a base of diesel vehicles to utilize this new source of fuel.

Answer 13

did u make such a car???is it possible aneway...

Answer 14

It could give off fumes, or it's not that great of a fuel.

Answer 15

can regular gas- intake cars run off of this or just hybrids? and for anyone else who answers this, GET A hYBRID, i know you have to charge em but they can now take gas if needed in an emergencey brake down, and they have made new ones which are much more affordable!

Answer 16

Oil cost more and their for more money for those guys.

Answer 17

It is expensive and also if we use all the agricultural land up making vegetable oil / biofuels there won't be any room left to grow food.

Answer 18

Because you need a different sort of engine to run it.

Basically "vegetable oil" fuel would be one of three types you could use in a DIESEL engine.

First it could be fuel mixed with vegetable oil, which is more viscous (thicker) than regular gasoline is. You're still mixing with some fossil fuel source.

Second is running straight vegetable oil. In this case, you need a specially modified SVO engine with specialized injectors and such which will heat the oil before it is used. These engines can be single or double--a double where a fossil fuel is used to heat the oil, single where a different system is, but no fossil fuel is used.

Third option is biodiesel fuel. This must be processed before being used as fuel.

Biodiesel should NOT be confused with ethanol, which to me is an amazingly poor choice for a fuel. Besides the fact it IS pushing up the price of food (we eat the grain and we need it also for livestock), the BTU output is not impressive, it can't be piped but has to be transported, etc.

Frankly, my personal choice for fuel efficiency is to go with diesel engines (majority of cases. Not into totalitarianism) and use biodiesel.