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Ben Russell drove from Key West, Florida, to Southport Island, Maine, without stopping once for gas.  

Not a single drop of fossil fuel entered the engine on the 1,800 mile drive.  In fact, Russell’s truck doesn’t even have a gas tank-- it runs entirely on wood.

The current model, a 1994 Chevrolet pick-up truck nicknamed “ECAR-5,” takes approximately fifteen minutes to warm up.  “We had a model that took five minutes, but we were getting some unwanted gases in the engine,” said Scott McBride, project designer and fabricator.  Essentially, the burner is fed wood, which is burned until it turns to charcoal, getting hotter as it reaches the end of the gasifier.  Then, when the charcoal reaches optimum temperature, oxygen enters the chamber and ash exits.  A mix of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane leaves the chamber and is clarified and cooled before entering the engine.

Russell’s work with his family’s company, which had roots in land and timber inspired him to start thinking about alternative ways to fuel America’s vehicles back in the late 70s.  “I heard once, years ago, it had been done during WWII,” Russell said of wood-fueled vehicles.  “The Swedes had put together some information over time and re-published it in English.  I was flabbergasted that it would work.”  So, he thought, why not try it?

In six months, he had created a model that was capable of a long-distance trek.  Russell then drove his first model, a Chevy wagon, from Jacksonville, Florida to Los Angeles in 1979.  Since then, he has been dedicating his spare time to creating “gasified,” or wood-burning vehicles with his team.  This year, he replicated his journey by driving from Key West to Canada with his ECAR crew.

The main objective of the ECAR, made by Russell’s company ECON (the Energy Conservation Company), is to draw attention to the lack of a back-up plan in the event of a national fuel crisis.  The company acknowledges that gasification as a long-term fuel alternative is not realistic, especially considering the finiteness of wood as a resource.  However, that is not the goal of the ECAR project.  Russell has not patented his design--he believes so much in creating fuel alternatives that he wants any legitimate advances to be shared with other gasifier enthusiasts.  Russell has even established the “ECAR $10,000 Challenge,” designed to encourage those with potential design improvements to come forward and present their findings.

 About his objectives in creating a series of ECARs, Russell said, “I’m not saving the world.  I’m not putting companies out of business.  I just think that we should have a national contingency plan in case of a catastrophic fuel shortage.”

(The truck will be on display at the Fire Department by the general store, starting today, and will be there for about a week)