Andover High School Student Creates Veggie Car

lyssa Solomon, an 18-year-old Andover High School senior has converted her car to run on vegetable oil, the Eagle Tribune reported. Her white mid-sized diesel car, an 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300 SDL, which Solomon nicknamed the "Veggie Car", runs on waste vegetable oil instead of diesel.

Solomon is also the co-president of the Environmental Club at her high school. She reportedly bought the 25-year old Mercedes with the idea to turn it into a greener car, which incidentally is a part of her senior exhibition project.

Cross-Country Trip in the “Veggie Car”

But it is not all for show. Solomon plans to use the car as she would any other. She plans to make a cross-country trip to California this summer and fuel up on waste vegetable oil from restaurants along the way. Vegetable oil combusts at the same temperature and pressure as diesel fuel, and she can use any form of vegetable oil, including peanut and canola oil.

Converting the Car

For the conversion from diesel to vegetable oil, Solomon had to install a second 18-gallon aluminum tank which holds the filtered vegetable oil. The car still needs to be able to run on diesel fuel, since it doesn’t run on vegetable oil all the time. "You first start it on diesel,” Solomon said.

However, once the engine reaches a certain temperature, Solomon can switch to the vegetable oil. According to her, she can get about 25 miles per gallon vegetable oil.

This is inspiring since Solomon is one of the few who would not need to worry about rising gas prices. It only cost her about $1,700 to convert the car.

Besides being a greener alternative, the “Veggie Car” also smells different than most cars. According to Solomon, "It smells like French fries."

We wish Solomon a happy journey and further success in her green-oriented projects.

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