‘Carpuccino’ could enter world record books

Paul Smithson

22/09/2011 10:02:00

A car that runs entirely on coffee granules may have broken the world record for the top speed for a vehicle powered by burning waste, hitting 66 mph on an airfield near York.

The driver, Martin Bacon, already has the record for the longest journey in a coffee-powered car, having travelled 210 miles from London to Manchester earlier this year, but this time he opted for speed over distance in his ‘Carpuccino’, reported Eater.

While the vehicle is powered completely by coffee granules, they are not quite the same as the ground beans people put in their household cappuccino machine; Mr Bacon has to make them into pellets that are then fired into gas.

Speaking to BBC News, the driver explained why he chose to use a 35-year-old Rover for his Carpuccino, saying: “The trouble with a lot of modern cars is that they’ve got far too many sensors on, they’re all fuel injection.”

Mr Bacon, from County Durham, revealed that his world record attempt - yet to be confirmed by Guinness World Records - was just a bit of fun, but the underlying point that waste can be used for energy is a serious one.

The car uses a process called gasification, which was popular around the time of the Second World War, allowing unlikely substances to be used for fuel.