2x the Horsepower, 4x the MPG - Green Hummers

A Hummer with good gas mileage?  A bio-diesel that’s faster than a Lamborghini?  Is this bizarro world?  No, it’s the handy work of Jonathan Goodwin.  In a nutshell Goodwin takes gas guzzlers and gives them MORE horsepower and drastically INCREASES their fuel economy.

In his portfolio he has his Hummer H1 that he converted to run on ethanol, hydrogen, bio-diesel, and natural gas.  Aside from empowering the vehicle to run on these renewable fuels, he doubled the horsepower to 400 hp and quadrupled the gas mileage to 40mpg.  He also worked with MTV’s Pimp My Ride to convert a 1965 Chevy Impala to bio-diesel.  They doubled the gas mileage from 12.5 to 25 mpg, and upped the horsepower from an already powerful 250 hp to a whopping 800 HP!  On the show they pitted the bio-diesel muscle car against a Lamborghini in a 1/4 drag race, and the bio-diesel annihilated the Lamborghini. 

One of Goodwin’s companies, H-Line Conversions, is converting Hummers for the general public.  For about $28,000 - $40,000 they will take an H2 with 495 hp that gets 9-12 mpg and convert it to a bio-diesel with 950 hp that gets 18-26 mpg.  He’s also working on a software that can be downloaded to a cars computer that will up the miles per gallon 5-7 mile without any mechanical alterations. 

Goodwin has received tremendous praise, and rightfully so, but there’s always criticism.  Sure, nobody is going to say "Yay, 18 mpg! The Planet is saved!" and hardcore treehuggers may not be impressed by his 40mpg Hummer, but he is really innovating the technology and generating buzz.  2008 is the year of going Green and everyone is buzzing about hybrids & bio-diesel but there’s a group of people who just aren’t willing to give up sheer power and speed to get better mileage, but thanks to Goodwin, now they may not have to. Maybe the skeptics will be impressed when he finishes one of his current projects…converting Neil Young’s 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark IV convertible to a bio-diesel electric hybrid that gets 100 mpg!

See Goodwin’s H-Line operation on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/20/green.hummers/#cnnSTCVideo 

Watch Goodwin’s Impala beat the Lamborghini:

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