I read every last one of your emails and comments. Today I’m going to share with you the suggestions I received. As you’ll notice, they ranged from the recklessly destructive to the artistic and sustainable.
We’ll be voting soon, but not yet. Until then, here is a list of many of the ideas I received, in no particular order…
- Convert it to plug-in hybrid, biodiesel, electric, natural gas, solar, hydrogen, hydrogen assist, coffee ground pellet, or water power
- Sell it on eBay, preferably to someone who drives sparingly, donate everything above the vehicle’s fair value
- Keep it
- Let Mythbusters have their way with it
- $25 a whack until there’s nothing left
- Blow it up
- Give it to a worthy organization or cause
- Will it blend?
- Give it to students to “learn from”
- Remove contaminants, dump off shore to form a man-made reef
- Make it an exhibition, disassembled or assembled
- Turn it into a Chia Rover
- Turn it into a towable chicken coop (wtf?)
- Plant a tree in the engine bay, grow strawberries in it
- Give it me (in exchange for a kick in the nuts, as one writer proposed)
- Return it to Land Rover America, use onefewer.com to get insight to design a smarter SUV (maybe Tata Motors can turn itself around after all)
- Recycle everything possible
- Take it apart, screw by screw, lay it out on the ground to be photographed, then reassemble into a sculpture. Recycle what’s left.
- Crush it into a cube (thanks WALL-E)
And there was more
Obviously, I haven’t mentioned every form of every suggestion I received above. Soon you’ll be able to submit your ideas directly to the site and if it sticks, it’ll be voted its way to determining the fate of my Range Rover.
What did surprise me was the nearly overwhelming number of suggestions to simply keep or sell the Range Rover. The environmental cost to manufacture the vehicle, many argued, has already been incurred and is significant enough to warrant keeping the vehicle (preferably driving it less). Some guessed that the environmental impact of the Rover’s manufacture is about half of its total lifecycle impact (anyone know for sure?). Similarly, recycling, another popular suggestion, just causes more energy use and isn’t as effective as reusing the vehicle or its parts.
The engine conversion ideas were plentiful and interesting. I received many links to little-known sites (some clearly scams) that make some of the technologies seem so stealth that it suggests oil industry cover-up, or total scam (anyone else remember those $10 do-it-yourself hovercraft manuals, just add a vacuum cleaner, from the back of kids’ magazines?).
Digging deeper
What is really the best option? Is it even possible (and remotely cost-effective) to convert or replace the powerplant of a heavy and highly computerized SUV like a Range Rover Sport? Anyone know of a company or organization ready to step up and do it? This one was just suggested , which apparently successfully converted an SUV to get 150 MPG. Imagine… a 100 MPG Range Rover Sport.
What would you choose for the fate of my SUV? How much awareness would it raise? How would it benefit (or reduce the negative impact on) the environment? And finally how much would it cost?
Photo: Sukanto Debnath on Flickr
COMMENTS / 13 COMMENTS
DannyGirl added these pithy words on Aug 01, 08 at 10:48 pmThe best part about the spike in world oil costs is all the “detroit metal” making its way to the wrecking yards! Talk about recycling! My little old 1991 Honda Civic with 130K on the odo - that people laughed at me buying last year, mind you - is holding its value but good. Meanwhile, that big, new disgusting, belching, guzzing SOB (er, SUV) that you bought last year to line the pockets of Mid East oil merchants - you can’t sell those for love or money. Hahahahaha! It just goes to show: buy right to begin with and you’ll weather the ups and ups (and ups!) in oil prices pretty well. The other great part about the spike in oil prices is all the Americans you see out biking and walking and generally moving the flab around a bit.
Rog added these pithy words on Aug 02, 08 at 3:59 pmIs it worth mentioning that the 150 MPG SUV achieved it’s impressive score by creative accounting? In their sums they include 240 miles driven on battery (charged by plug-in) and 60 miles driven hybrid, using 2 gallons of petrol, giving, they say, 300 miles for each 2 gallons of petrol. No mention of the coal that was burned to power the 240 miles!
This is not to say that a conversion to hybrid might not improve the existing 13 MPG of that guzzler of yours, but don’t hope for anything near to what AFS Trinity claim.
Seth added these pithy words on Aug 03, 08 at 4:12 pmI’ll buy it, I am looking to purchase one in the Bay Area :]
MEMEMEME added these pithy words on Aug 03, 08 at 6:21 pmChicken Coop. WOW.
but um, yeah, they haven’t exactly perfected recycling yet, and if they do, they screw up the valuble resources with the cheap ones. D:maybe give it to nike and see if they can turn it into a playground. XD
Mitchell Clemens added these pithy words on Aug 04, 08 at 3:34 pmYes, Rog, I do agree that we should consider the impact that coal-generated electricity usage has on the overall picture. Roughly 50% of this nation’s electricity does come from coal and so there are indirect environmental impacts to using electricity to fuel our transportation sector.
That being said, let’s take innovation one step further and involve Nanosolar and their nearby San Jose manufacturing facility (which is already shipping panels). Utilize their technology as charging stations for the electric-hybrid Rover. Already, solar is looking to be cheaper than coal, and obviously far more environmentally-friendly.
There is not going to be one silver bullet that will fix everything. To believe so would be ignorant. Instead, there needs to be a comprehensive renewable-energy transistion strategy put forth containing diverse efforts catered to each region’s needs and opportunities. Showing that existing gas-guzzlers can be mass-retrofitted with green technology and that the alternative energy that technology uses can be produced economically, locally, and in a way that doesn’t harm the environment would be one big step in the transition process.
Sita Scott added these pithy words on Aug 04, 08 at 4:36 pmHey! I think you should get someone to trade you a Hummer for it. Surely the Range Rover would be more economical to drive. Then you could sell the Hummer! Buy a bicycle with some of the proceeds, then a condo, maybe?
mike hunt added these pithy words on Aug 07, 08 at 4:53 amRecycle it piece by piece. It’s not flashy but it makes the most sense if you’re trying to do something good for your environment.
“The best part about the spike in world oil costs is all the “detroit metal” making its way to the wrecking yards! Talk about recycling! My little old 1991 Honda Civic with 130K on the odo - that people laughed at me buying last year, mind you - is holding its value but good. Meanwhile, that big, new disgusting, belching, guzzing SOB (er, SUV) that you bought last year to line the pockets of Mid East oil merchants - you can’t sell those for love or money. Hahahahaha! It just goes to show: buy right to begin with and you’ll weather the ups and ups (and ups!) in oil prices pretty well. The other great part about the spike in oil prices is all the Americans you see out biking and walking and generally moving the flab around a bit.”
He asked what he should do with his gas guzzler. He’s doing something to create awareness, not gloating that he bought cheap car. And tell the truth, you bought that Honda cause you could only come up $3000 and needed a new car immediately. You probably can’t even afford a Range Rover, much less a tank of gas for it. Furthermore, Range Rovers aren’t “Detroit metal.” Pretty smug of you to try to stomp on guy for doing something good…Troll.
Davy added these pithy words on Aug 07, 08 at 9:28 amGive it to an organisation who really needs a car like that.
I just came back from a visit of La Nouvelle Espérance in Burundi and even in the capital it’s almost impossible to drive with a normal car…
Tim added these pithy words on Aug 07, 08 at 9:09 pmIf you want to do something that will have a lasting impact, you should sell it and donate the money to worldvision.org. If you got 50k for it, that would significantly improve the lives — and even their chance at survival — for probably a dozen kids. At $35/month, you could sponsor 12 kids for 10 years and CHANGE the course of their lives. I realize that the car would keep polluting for a few years if you sell it, but I would argue your impact would go on a lot longer and in a much more significant way if you donated the money to a worthy cause like World Vision. And really, as long as you don’t buy another car, you’ll still have accomplished the goal of there being “one fewer” cars on the road.
Vladimir added these pithy words on Aug 11, 08 at 5:17 amYou can do only one thing!
Drop it from the plane!
Make a pub company earn money! Most part of money you give to green peaceAnd for the balance one just by a hybryd!
Aaron added these pithy words on Aug 12, 08 at 9:36 amI’m an EMT with the Indiana Air Search and Rescue. We are an all volunteer non for profit organization that will soon be providing relief to national disasters in the United States as well as potentially going overseas in the future. We are nearing the completion of the restoration of our Huey and have also been donated WWII era C47 cargo planes to help in our cause. We have traveled all over the country hauling aircraft parts on trailers behind our own personal vehicles and that proves to be a great personal expense to our members and our personal vehicles. The donation of this Range Rover, should it be given to us, would be a great addition to our crew. More importantly though, the Range Rover would serve more as a “command” vehicle or ambulance for remote ground operations while we are working disaster areas. The Range Rover was built with the intention of going any place in the world, and with that it shares our same intentions. We would be able to put it into a use that would help save lives.
We also have a more user friendly shutterfly web-site at: http://iasar.shutterfly.com/
Brian would also be eligible to get a nice tax write off for his donation to us, which he could use do further fund a environmentally conscious campaign to reduce global warming.
George added these pithy words on Aug 20, 08 at 3:49 amDonate it to me. I’ll drive it sparingly and save the planet!!
Jonas added these pithy words on Aug 27, 08 at 5:20 amConvert the Rover to a EV is the way to Go, here is some good links.
