Got to thinking of driving on electrity.

[48Rob]

It isn't a bad idea at all.

The big question I'd have if considering it is how much heat per pound it would produce.
With wood, the denser species produce more BTU's than a less dense wood.
However, If I was unemployed, and had time to kill and plenty of cow patties about, it is a resource I wouldn't walk by anymore than I'd leave dollar bills laying on the sidewalk...




As they are pretty light, and a large volume would be needed, using them for home heating makes more sense, then use the savings to buy gas for the car.
Here is a stove that says you can burn cow patties in it.
I'm sure most stoves could with a little modification to get air into them.
http://www.sedorestovewest.com/

Rob

[angib]

This isn't a practical suggestion for Slow, but this is how some British got around in WWII when gas (petrol) was severely rationed:

gas-bag.JPG (51.73 KiB) Viewed 2475 times

As many houses had town gas (actual gaseous 'gas' produced from making coke) so these gas bags were added to some cars so they could make short journeys - that bag on the roof when full was the equivalent of just one gallon of petrol/gas.

[DriverOne]

If you could find a diesel VW, they get 60+mpg! The switch to biodiesel would mean virtually free diesel, and the only side-effect would be a constant craving for french fries!

[Roly Nelson]

Slow, you can get a Chevy Volt for around 42 grand. My Chevy Cruze looks so much like a Volt, that I hang an extension cord out of the trunk lid, just to fool people. Remember, every Volt General Motors built, cost the taxpayers a cool 1/4 of a million dollars. One advantage to a Volt is, when you run out of battery power, a gas engine starts up and powers the batteries, so you are never stranded, until the gas tank is empty.
Roly

[stumphugger]

How busy are the roads? A bicycle can go as far as the engine can power it. Shoot, I'm nearing 60, am fat, and I can pedal my mountain bike (24 gears) to the post office and back. That's 14 miles(round trip) with a few steepish hills on it. You've got the time, go for it. Take some pocket change and have an ice cream cone or coffee before heading home. I fyou are really hard core, they make tire chains for bicycles. If wimpy, like me, ride on the good weather days.

A bike helmet is a good thing to swing at dogs that grab your leg.

Yup, get a good bicycle and some saddle bags. I named my bike, Snuffy. That helps.

[rowerwet]

I decided yesterday to not even lease the dang place. it was not going to pruduce enough to cover the normal fuel bill to irrgate the thing.

I still like the electric car idea. oh. well and wood gasifcation history was a neat read!

slow

Slow, the whole issue of any fuel for transportation is power to weight, How much power can you get out of X amount of weight. Batteries are about the worst power source around when you figure out the amount of power you can get from a pound of battery, compared to coal, wood, diesel, or gasoline. Then you have the even worse problem of any battery, they loose power based on temp. and no matter what they hold less power the longer you use them, Imagine trying to drive to town in winter and suddenly finding that tank of fuel that usually got you 400 miles, now only got 200 because it was less than 40 degrees F outside, and then over a couple years of use that same 400 miles of power became 350, then 300, then 200, then one day a full tank only got 100 miles. that kind of life is expected for batteries.
All of the power sources looked to to replace oil were tried back when the car was a new invention, the market sorted it all out then and there is no real reason to try it again. Hybrid technology has added to the range of oil powered cars, but there is still no real replacement for oil. charging your fully electric car from a coal powered power plant makes no sense if you are trying to "save the earth" from global whining... uh warming.
Wood gas power is the answer if you are trying to save money on gas or diesel the technology has been around since WWI and worked for many people, in fact FEMA publishes plans for gas producers to power generators for the "end of the world" type disasters. A guy in my church made one with his son, and now is working on power a jeep Cherokee with it. Wood gas can be made from anything that burns, cow pies, wood pellets, trash, coal, and you won't beat the efficiency of the internal combustion engine.
One other idea that I have heard plenty about from college students, but haven't been able to find much online about is, three wheeled vehicles, made of steel tube frames with a simple plywood, fiberglass, courogated plastic etc. shell, and a small 2 or three cylinder diesel engine for power. with three wheels you can register it as a motorcycle in any state, and beat all the crash standards that make cars so outrageous in price. small diesels are rough and noisy to run, but you are caring more about mileage anyway... the best part is the drive, braking, and other parts needed are all easy to get from motorcycle sources, and even if there isn't a motorcycle junk yard near you the internet puts it all within reach. If I was in your position biodiesel would be my first choice if I had an old diesel car, or one of these "off road only" little trucks from japan (I went to church with a guy who worked out how to put one on the road up here in the northeast, saved his company a ton of money), my second choice would be wood gas in an old car or truck (early ranger with a carb. would be my choice), or the three wheeler, in order based on cost.

[notned]

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[Bogo]

You need a Honda CT90. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_CT90 They are a small motorbike made for riding on trails and roads. They are street legal and will reach 55 on the highway yet are still able to climb a steep trail with a heavy load. They have a 4 speed gear box with an additional hi/low gear or chain drive setup. Sadly no longer made for USA use but there are lots of them out there. They get 90+MPG.

[angib]

I fyou are really hard core, they make tire chains for bicycles. If wimpy, like me, ride on the good weather days.

Last winter I bought some winter tyres for my bicycle and I am now a complete convert to them. I'm not sure they would be much use for a North American winter as I don't think they are fat enough or knobbly enough to be a good snow tyre, but they are unbelievably good on ice, even ice with melt water on top of it which I had always assumed didn't have a coefficient of friction. On this you can still pedal fairly hard without slip and there's absolutely no question of skidding in turns. I believe the rubber has tiny glass particles embedded in it which is what provides the ice grip. The hundreds of tiny sipes also give superb wet grip, even on things like wet metal drain covers.

2winters.JPG (153.3 KiB) Viewed 594 times

You can guess which of these two it is, yeah? And there is a big downside - these are Continental tyres, not the cheap ones made in their Indian factory but the ones hand made in their German factory, so they cost the same as a cheap winter car tyre.