EcoJet concept car
Encyclopedia
The EcoJet concept car is a concept car
designed to run on biodiesel
fuel, using a Honeywell LTS101 gas turbine
instead of a piston engine.
This concept car was the result of a collaboration between Jay Leno
and General Motors
. Unlike other concept cars, which are built mostly for show purposes, it was meant to be driven on the road in a regular fashion as well as for show purposes.
It is a two-seater car of a coupe design. The car contains two separate gas tanks; one contains the main fuel, a biodiesel
soy bean oil, and the other contains a traditional clean burning jet engine fuel. The JP-4
jet engine fuel is used to start the turbine easily at the beginning of a trip and also to run the engine at the end of a trip to clean it since a biodiesel fuel tends to gum up a turbine (causing it to seize) if the biofuel is not cleared. The exhaust air is 1000 degrees Fahrenheit in normal operation and 1800 Fahrenheit at full power. Basically the car runs on refined cooking oil and so it gives off the same kind of smell created by cooking French fries
.
The car has a fully featured Azentek PC running Microsoft
Windows Vista
, with two LCD screens on the dashboard, one for the aircraft style digital gauges and another for the media and navigation controls as well as the standard PC functions such as word processing
and Web
access through a Wimax
system. Two other smaller LCD screens are placed on the dashboard to provide rear views, as the car has no rear view mirrors and uses cameras instead. The functions are controlled by Touchscreen
or by Speech recognition
software using a multiple microphone array. The car was assembled by the Big Dog crew (mechanics employed by Jay Leno, usually to help him maintain his large collection of cars).
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
designed to run on biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
fuel, using a Honeywell LTS101 gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
instead of a piston engine.
This concept car was the result of a collaboration between Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
. Unlike other concept cars, which are built mostly for show purposes, it was meant to be driven on the road in a regular fashion as well as for show purposes.
It is a two-seater car of a coupe design. The car contains two separate gas tanks; one contains the main fuel, a biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
soy bean oil, and the other contains a traditional clean burning jet engine fuel. The JP-4
JP-4
JP-4, or JP4 was a jet fuel, specified in 1951 by the U.S. government . It was a 50-50 kerosene-gasoline blend. It has lower flash point than JP-1, but was preferred because of its greater availability. It was the primary U.S. Air Force jet fuel between 1951 and 1995. Its NATO code is F-40...
jet engine fuel is used to start the turbine easily at the beginning of a trip and also to run the engine at the end of a trip to clean it since a biodiesel fuel tends to gum up a turbine (causing it to seize) if the biofuel is not cleared. The exhaust air is 1000 degrees Fahrenheit in normal operation and 1800 Fahrenheit at full power. Basically the car runs on refined cooking oil and so it gives off the same kind of smell created by cooking French fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
.
The car has a fully featured Azentek PC running Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, with two LCD screens on the dashboard, one for the aircraft style digital gauges and another for the media and navigation controls as well as the standard PC functions such as word processing
Word processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
and Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
access through a Wimax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
system. Two other smaller LCD screens are placed on the dashboard to provide rear views, as the car has no rear view mirrors and uses cameras instead. The functions are controlled by Touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
or by Speech recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
software using a multiple microphone array. The car was assembled by the Big Dog crew (mechanics employed by Jay Leno, usually to help him maintain his large collection of cars).