The Potential of Neil Young’s LincVolt Initiative
Although more famously known for his brilliant and original brand of crooning folk songs, Neil Young has always been a champion of environmental protection and for cleaner fuels. When he’s not touring and crafting exceptional music, he’s an extremely outspoken advocate for everything from buying local produce to switching to electric cars. Despite not having taken any mechanic courses in Toronto, for many years he has overseen the creation of a hybrid car he dubs the LincVolt.
In essence, it’s Young’s personal 1959 Lincoln Continental that was completely overhauled and retro-fitted with an efficient hybrid engine. The project was intended to showcase the power that hybrid vehicles can have in the battle for cleaner vehicles, and serves to show that even the biggest, baddest gas guzzlers can become efficient machines.
Under the Hood
So just what makes this classic luxury vehicle purr? Well it’s a combination of an exceptionally efficient engine that runs on cellulosic ethanol from biomass, which is essentially a super clean form of ethanol fuel derived from biological sources, and an electric motor. While it may not be taking off in programs offering automotive training in Toronto just yet, cellulosic ethanol is an astounding 86% cleaner than traditional gasoline, meaning it lets off 86% less emissions into the atmosphere, making this car one of the cleanest in the world, and the only luxury sedan of its kind to achieve that kind of efficiency.
Check out this video of Young himself talking about the car to David Letterman:
Potential for Future Development?
While it’s only one car, and not an entire fleet, the team behind the LincVolt isn’t trying to sell the car itself, but rather the incredibly efficient technology powering it. While it’s true that there has been a rise of popularity in hybrid technology and some of the big name car companies are hopping on board, they’re still a far cry from being as efficient as they could be. The LincVolt proves this by equipping one of the most notoriously inefficient cars with an engine that astounds with its efficiency.
By highlighting the adoption of more ecologically friendly bio-fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, the LincVolt is challenging the conventional idea of a hybrid and taking it even further. Because the majority of mass-market hybrids still rely on traditional gasoline, they’re not as clean or efficient as they could be.
By equipping the Lincoln Continental with an engine that runs on bio-fuel, Neil Young and the LincVolt team have developed one of the most efficient cars ever made, and as we continue to make strides in the alternative fuel and energy sectors, the potential to have cleaner, more efficient cars is just going to keep increasing. What Young and his team are trying to do is to get people to realize that they should jump on board – everyone from people in automotive careers in Toronto to CEOs at major car companies. So while it might be a bit of an uphill battle to try and change peoples’ minds on gasoline, this sure is a revolutionary approach to trying!
