BIO-BEETLE

Mauians can rent this car that runs on reprocessed
vegetable oil and has french-fry scented exhaust

stories by staff writer MELISSA TANJI

You could call it the ultimate teen-ager's show car: a slick green VW Beetle with a sunroof and an exhaust that smells like french fries.

Environmentalists and those in the business call it a shining example of an alternative to fossil fuels.

Maui Recycling Service unveiled the "Bio-Beetle" in January. The car, an unmodified 2000 Volkswagen Beetle with a diesel engine, uses biodiesel as fuel and is being rented out through Maui Car Rentals as the "world's first dedicated biodiesel rental car."

"The Bio-Beetle rental car gives the general public the opportunity to drive a renewably fueled car and offers them firsthand experience that renewable fuels are available right now, and that they actually work," said Shaun Stenshol, president of Maui Recycling Service.

"I'm a strong believer in renewable energy," he said. "We have to be able to show everyone in the mainstream that it works now."

The Bio-Beetle is fueled by biodiesel from Kahului-based Pacific Biodiesel, which makes its fuel from cooking oil.

Robert King, president of Pacific Biodiesel, said he thinks the Bio-Beetle is a good idea, as both another customer for his company and as a model for what a biodiesel-powered vehicle can do.

"There are a lot of skeptics that think it's a huge performance loss," he said.

King said some of his customers think their diesel-powered vehicles run better on biodiesel.

Biodiesel on Maui is produced primarily from used cooking oil that Pacific Biodiesel gets from restaurants. Glycerine, a noncombustible liquid that is an element of the cooking oil, is removed and "the rest of the vegetable oil runs really nice." Biodiesel is not a new product, although Pacific Biodiesel developed its own Processing system for converting used cooking oil. Other biodiesel producers on the Mainland and in Europe generally use pure vegetable oil so they don't need to deal with the contaminants left from cooking.

Stenshol said use of biodiesel has yet to catch fire on Maui, although he said it is popular on the Mainland and in Germany.

The beetle is being managed and rented out of Maui Car Rentals on Dairy Road.

Rick Tholen, president of No Ka Oi Motors and Maui Car Rentals, said Stenshol's concept was "an easy sell. We like the idea."

"We are going to start with one and see how it goes, and hopefully we'll increase it," Tholen said.

Tholen said the Bio-Beetle is being advertised on the Internet and they have been receiving calls from curious customers. There is one rental scheduled for later this month.

Tholen said the rental cost for the Bio-Beetle is $250 a week plus tax, equivalent to the cost of renting a Mustang Convertible. He said he doesn't think the $250 a week is out of the range for a rental car on Maui.

He said the car has neat features such as its sunroof. "It's a cool little car." In any case, people who will rent the car are not thinking about the cost, but are dedicated to doing something positive for the environment.

"It's part educational, part entrepreneurial," Stenshol said. "It's good to be able to run businesses that are green."

He said he wants to show people that biodiesel is a good alternative to fossil fuels. Almost all of Maui Recycling Service's vehicles are running on biodiesel, and Stenshol said he and several of his workers drive biodiesel-powered personal vehicles.

There is no problem with power in a diesel engine running on biodiesel, he said. "It drives great. They are no like the old diesels that were noisy and shaky," he said. "The new diesels are quiet and powerful."