As I’ve said before, SEMA is not usually a place you expect to see lots of alternative fuel vehicles. But in recent years there has been a paradigm shift, and increasing floor space has been devoted to debuting technologies and cars that conserve gas, rather than waste it.

Factory Five, out of Wareham Massachusetts, is a well-known maker of kit cars based on classic Shelby designs including the Cobra and Daytona. Amp=D has taken one of their kit cars based on the iconic ‘33 Ford and built a powerful electric drivetrain around this handsome hot rod.

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A group of University of Kansas students have rigged up a 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle to run on a mix of biodiesel and battery power.

The team, calling themselves the Ecohawks, claim the quirky hybrid is capable of getting 50 MPG from a series of 10 lead-acid batteries and a biodiesel generator.

Performance-wise, although quite cool looking in a retro kind of way, the car isn’t exactly what you’d call a speedster, topping out as it does at a leisurely 30 mph.

That doesn’t seem to bother team-leader Prof. Chris Depcik though, who told reporters, “We have driven it around and reached approximately 30 mph, but this was more of a proof-of-concept drive without pushing the boundaries. We are currently getting the vehicle into road-ready shape to be driven safely in order to determine these values.” (More pics after the jump).

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This one really made me giggle.

Tuning powerhouse Tommy Kaira has given the third generation Toyota Prius an aggressive makeover that is purely cosmetic.

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I’ve spent a lot of time around the car hobby, and I’ve seen some pretty stupid people do some pretty stupid things. My favorite story involves a V6 Mustang and a leafblower strapped to the air intake, approximating a cobbled together stand-alone supercharger of sorts. Alas, no one ever explained to this man-child that if you add more air, you also need to add more fuel. His engine did not last too long.

But a UK company may be on the right track with an electric supercharger that actually works. Not only does it provide a 40-50% bump in power and torque, but also a 20% decrease in CO2 emissions.

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If you live in Colorado and own a Prius, here’s a New Year’s Day gift for you: $6,000 off a plug-in hybrid conversion.

Earlier this year, Colorado passed House Bill 1331, “Incentives for Efficient Motor Vehicles,” which creates new tax credits of up to $6,000 for the purchase of, or conversion to, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

Background: plug-in hybrid and electric car retrofits.

The new credit will be a substantial discount off the average price of a plug-in conversion, which generally run around $10-14,000. On top of the Federal Tax Credit of 10% (up to $4,000), plug-in retrofits could start to make a lot of sense for some car owners.

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In its time, the MGB was one of the most modern sports cars available. Featuring some of the first crumple zones to ever be included in a production car, as well as a fast-for-its-day 0-60 mph acceleration of 11 seconds. It was also a beauty.

So it’s clear why, in 1984, an engineering professor with a brand-spanking new PhD, who had just begun his professional career at the University of South Carolina, would think it might be cool to drive a 1972 MGB around with the top down in that climatically-pleasant area of the US. And so began Professor Roger Dougal’s obsession with his MGB.

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This is actually old news that recently resurfaced, and as a lifelong Cougar aficionado I can’t pass it up. In actuality, the Mercury Cougar was a refined, “gentleman’s muscle car” based on the 1st generation Mustang. It came standard with a number of gas-guzzling V8 motors including the epic “Boss” 302.

But the pristine-looking 1967 Cougar pictured here has done away with those gas hogs in favor of a Mercedes turbodiesel motor that runs on, you guessed it, biodiesel.

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Originally envisioned as weighing just 50 pounds, and with a pullout drawer to extend its length for sleeping; inventor Paul Elkins‘ camper was designed for maximum efficiency. It had to endure winds of 60 mph, heat of 100+ degrees. And it’s not merely fuel efficient. It uses no fuel at all.

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What you see above (center) is one of the most well-engineered “Franken-cars” of all time: a factory-modified 1980’s era Mercedes-Benz 190 diesel, stuffed with the company’s latest BlueEFFICIENCY CDI engine, which makes more than double the horsepower and nearly three times the torque of the original 1988 D.

How far we’ve come in 20 years!

More photos, and MBUSA’s own comprehensive press release, after the jump.

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I’ve always held a certain affinity for the El Camino. It makes no apologies for what it is; niether car nor truck nor particularly attractive. But it lasted a long time and plenty of people purchased one. With the body of a truck but the handling of a car (sorta) many unfair stigmas came to be attached with the El Camino.

But just like the original El Camino did back in its heyday, Tom Leitschuh’s El Camino is breaking conventions by going 100% electric. Say what? An electric El Camino? It seems almost too outlandish to believe, but its true.

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Garage-Built Car Gets 105 MPG, Cost $2,500 To Build

Frustrated with the price of filling up his Toyota, Jory Squibb built the Moonbeam. It has been to the Altwheels Festival in Boston twice and has traveled over 10,000 miles. It is powered by a 150 cc gas engine and carries two passengers “if they are on good terms,” he says.

15 Students Turn A ‘76 Porsche Into A Fully Electric Car

The car was converted into a electric vehicle using 18 U-Charge® XP Lithium Phosphate batteries…and 15 MIT students. The electric version has similar driving performance to the original vehicle, with the added advantage of regenerative braking. It has a range of about 100 miles on a full charge.

Hybrid Trike Uses Diesel, Electric, And Pedal-Power

The Tri-Hybrid Stealth is a two seat, 3-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a diesel engine, an electric motor and the driver’s legs. For reals. It’s also the first hybrid trike to offer exclusive hand controls and an automated extendable seat for handicapped drivers.

Biomass Powered Truck Runs On Wood And Cardboard

Dave Nichols , a 42-year-old home builder and auto shop owner from eastern Connecticut, modified his 1989 Ford F-150 pickup truck to run on wood, leaves, cardboard and other “biomass” with a fuel system that he says expels virtually no pollution. Dave’s entry was the only truck in the competition.

Diesel-Powered Trike Built Almost Entirely Of Aluminum

The super-light Roopod, built by an Industrial Designer from western Massachusetts, is powered by a 2-cylinder diesel engine. Inspiration for the car came when he realized his V-dub weighed 3,000 pounds. “For every gallon of gas that I put in, 90 percent of it is being used to drive the car, and 10 percent to drive me, and that’s just stupid,’’ he said.

Three-Wheeled Green Grand Prix Winner

Built by Bill Buchholz, the Dirigo is a three-wheeled diesel two passenger vehicle that has a top speed of 72mph and does 0-60 about 30 seconds. It recently won its class in the Green Grand Prix, averaging 90 MPG. Um, can you tell it was designed by boat builders?

Gaia, The 300 MPG Trike

Built by Ken Fry, he says the vehicle will deliver 300 mpge with an electric range of about 30 miles and a top-speed of 90 mph. How? Well the car only weighs 540 pounds.

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Texas Teen Buys Car Off eBay, Makes It Electric

Luke Laborde turned a 32 mpg gas-burning Bradley GT II kit car into a fully electric ride for just about $10,000. The ride, which was purchased off eBay, has eight 80-pound batteries throughout including where the gas tank used to be. The car gets 40 miles on a full charge.

Student Built Race Car Is Powered By Soybeans

Five kids from West Philly’s high school auto shop class, ex-gang members and high school dropouts built this soybean-powered race car. The car gets 50+ mpg and goes from 0 to 60 in just 4 seconds! But the real win here is how the experience impacted these kids. One of the few still in high school, Kosi Harmon, went from getting D’s to being a straight-A student.

8th Grader Builds Solar-Powered Bike With GPS, iPod Dock

Eighth-grader David S. Dixon built this street-legal quadricycle powered by a solar-charged electric motor. The bike not only carries his dog and three friends, but it has also has an iPod dock and GPS. Ya, it’s that cool!

16 Year Old Converts 1988 Mazda Truck To A Plugin EV

Andrew Angelloti, after saving up $6,000 as a part time lifeguard, converted his very own truck to be a plug-in. Using 20 flooded lead acid batteries to create 120 volts and a 60 HP electric motor, the truck hits a top speed of 55 mph and has range of 40 miles. Best part, he blogs about it so others can mod their cars. You can check out his blog here.

15 Year Old Builds Air-Powered Ride Back In 1989

This air-powered car was covered by KODE Channel 12 of Joplin, MO back in 1989. You can tell by VHS-to-YouTube quality of the video. The idea was pitched to car companies but largely ignored.

Alaskan Teen Converts 1971 VW Super Beetle To Electric Car

While some VW enthusiasts are still waiting for the car company to tap the electric car market (one of those being me), senior Bart Grabman has beat them to the punch. Whether or not Bart can see Russia from his house, he has my vote! Though…can I get mine in one of these?

Natural gas conversions don’t not have to cost that much: there is no technological problem driving what it truly needs to cost for auto mechanics to make a living at it. The true cost is only a few hundred dollars in parts and labor. The reason for this incredible difference is exceedingly interesting, as Robert Rapier notes in a well researched piece over at The Oil Drum on  the feasibility of switching from Gasoline to Natural Gas.

Not only is the reason interesting, but embedded in the reason is the simple way to solve it. Then converting cars to Natural Gas could cost what it actually costs; just a few hundred dollars - an hour’s work; a few parts.

We could cut our very hoggy national carbon footprint by switching to natural gas which we now have an abundant supply of if these new natural gas reserve numbers are even remotely accurate. So we could drive  less hoggy on somewhat cleaner fuel. And - (supposedly) in the carpool lane

The VP of The Auto Channel claims that this cost is unnecessary:

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It’s hard being an environmental celebrity, especially when you are Royal too. People want to see you, but that can mean racking up a lot of carbon miles.

So Prince Charles had his Aston Martin converted to run on bio-ethanol made from aged English wine, and his Audi, Jaguar, and Range Rover all run on what the English call old cooking fat.

In the US we call this reused cooking oil because that’s much hipper and greener sounding, and marketing is everything.

So now Prince Charles is driven in the royal Jaguar that runs on homemade biodiesel and, for a little variety; in the Land Rover or the Audi, in a carbon conscious fashion.

But what about his airplane travel? Well…

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Don’t laugh.

This started as just another ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, zero emissions, homemade solar powered EV.

But, sensibly, noting the enormous contribution of the wind turbine in the “snout” 400 watts at 28 MPH, night or day! Joe Rush, the inventor plans on adding a second wind turbine! This would bring the total on-board electricity supply  to nearly 1 KW. Well, at least when it’s traveling at 28 mph, it would.

Perhaps following the findings of that Federal study which recently found that wind power is the second most cost-effective investment for Federal renewable energy dollars, right behind geothermal power Joe Rush is simply utilizing the free energy generated by simply being a moving vehicle: wind, from which he creates the first wind powered EV.

Unfettered by the slow-moving decision-making procedures of giant auto companies (some of which will no doubt still be trying to sell us gas guzzlers even while our poor planet enters it’s second Eocene) Joe is able to nimbly head back to the drawing board for this radical revision. A second wind turbine will be added.

But where?

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17-year-old Andrew Loader from Lindsborg, Kansas has amazed his parents by building his very own electric car (Video) from nothing more than a clapped-out Ford Escort, some batteries and an old forklift motor.

Tired of paying last summer’s high gas prices, Andrew decided to take matters into his own hands and build the street-legal vehicle after researching the idea on the internet.

To begin with, Mom and Dad were less than impressed with the scheme. “Mom told me not to, and dad did too. I had to write a letter to Mom and her friend convinced her not to ground me or kill me,” said the industrious teenager.

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A Ford Motor Company engineer has built a 3-wheel motorbike capable of getting 125 mpg. 

The fuel economy expert crafted the vehicle at his home shop in Belleville, MI. It’s a street legal, two-passenger, 3-wheel motorbike that is made from aircraft materials. Oh, and it is capable of a top speed of over 100 mph.

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As we’ve reported over the last few weeks, sometimes electric-powered drag racing can break boundaries in exciting new ways. The electric motorbike that rockets from 0-60mph in under a second, and a 1972 Datsun that just happens to be the world’s (second) fastest elecric car spring to mind.

Sometimes though, EV face-offs on the drag track are just well…daft. Check out this hilarious footage of the recent Alternative Fuel Race 2009 in the UK featuring electric skateboards and battery-powered dune buggies.

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While we wait to see if General Motors will go banko come June 1, Raser Technologies is hoping to change our minds about one of GM’s most iconic offerings: the Humvee.

During the upcoming 2009 SAE World Congress (Detroit, April 20 - 24) the company plans to unveil a Hummer H3 Range-Extended Electric Vehicle (ReEV) prototype. The vehicle is designed, first and foremost, as a purely electric vehicle with a drive train similar to the Voltec system in the Chevrolet Volt.

“We are resurrecting the Hummer,” David West, vice president of marketing for Raser Technologies said, adding that “It’s like a Volt on steroids.”

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There are quite a few three-wheelers these days: Aptera, Myers Motors and ZAP! Motors. And while those companies seem to be blocked from government funding, it isn’t stopping designers like 22-year-old Alex Hodge from New Zealand from churning out kickass mods like the Hawk.

The Hawk concept is part fighter jet, part sports car, and looks like it’s balls-out fun! The concept is built around the 999cc Honda RC51 V-twin engine has 10,000 rpm, 120 hp and a top speed of 144 mph.

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