Coffee Powered Car: Bean Machine Truck Fueled 65 MPH Guinness World Record

A coffee powered truck called the “Bean Machine” has set a new speed record. Fueled by only coffee chaff pellets, as previously reported by The Inquisitr the coffee-powered Ford P100 pickup truck set a 65.5 MPH Guinness World Record.

Commissioned by The Co-operative Food, the specially-modified truck is the brainchild of the conservationist, Martin Bacon, who lives in Barnard Castle in Teesdale, County Durham. The Bean Machine was built to celebrate 10 years since The Co-operative Food converted all its own-brand coffee to Fairtrade.

According to The Journal, Mr. Bacon took his two children and wife Jill to complete a speed test run at Woodford Airfield in Stockport. Bacon spoke about the experience to the newspaper:

“We’re thrilled to have taken the speed record for the fastest car of this kind. This coffee car has been years in the making.”

Bacon explained to FoodBev.com how the coffee powered engine worked:

“Coffee chaff pellets, which are produced from the waste in coffee production, are heated in a charcoal fire, where they break down into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then cooled and filtered before hydrogen is combusted to drive the engine. Any car can run on gasification. In fact, during the Second World War, there were over 100,000 vehicles in the UK that ran on gasification, including cars, buses and delivery vehicles. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were over 900,000 vehicles running on gasifiers across the world.”

Alternative fuels are becoming all the rage. Volkswagen recently announced the XL1, which is a plug-in diesel hybrid that manages a fuel efficiency of 261 mpg. Biodiesel fuel such as peanut oil was originally used by the inventor of the diesel engine, Mr. Diesel himself. Some say the only reason they switched over to standard oil is because, at the time, the cost of oil drilling was far cheaper.

At what price point would you switch over to a vehicle using electricity or biodiesel like the coffee powered truck?

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