GRANOLAMOBILE

We deliver to the majority of our in-state accounts in our vegetable-powered VW Golf. It gets 40 miles to the gallon, but we only buy a tank of diesel about every 1,000 miles! Here's how:

We fetch used fryolater oil from the Finkerman's BBQ spot next to our warehouse, pour it through a simple sock filter into a bucket, where it is then free of french fry bits and other debris. Then, we simply lift the flap of the Golf's trunk, where the spare tire used to reside, but where a second fuel tank now resides, which has been connected to the injectors via a basic hose system that runs under the car up to the engine, and pour the oil in. When we start the car, it starts on diesel fuel (since it is more volatile for firing-up purposes), and after a few minutes, we flip a switch and the engine begins to draw fuel from the secondary vegetable oil tank. We drive on vegetable oil until a minute before we want to stop, at which point we flip a third switch to flush the vegetable oil out of all of the injectors and re-prime the engine with diesel to prepare for the next time around! SOOOO COOOOOOL!

The initial cost was about $1,000 to install the secondary tank. Now we spend a total of about $50/month (on grease filters and the supplemental diesel fuel) to drive thousands of miles around Vermont and New York, visiting customers, making sales calls and delivering tons (a ton is 2,000 pounds) of granola every week.

In the beginning, there were complications with the engine and the filtering and oil spilling in the warehouse...and all kinds of "wicked frustrating" challenges. Also, every time we drive, we run the risk of getting a flat and not having a spare. Operating on the cutting edge definitely requires taking life in stride. We don't mind though. It's sort of what makes the Granolamobile so much fun.