Johnathan Goodwin is building an H3 Hummer which he thinks will get 60 MPG. Oh, and do 0-60 in 5 seconds. The secret sauce is that he's putting in a jet turbine engine to drive a generator. This in turn charges up a ultra-high capacitor, which in its turn powers an electric motor.
Goodwin's experiments point to a radically cleaner and cheaper future for the American car. The numbers are simple: With a $5,000 bolt-on kit he co-engineered--the poor man's version of a Goodwin conversion--he can immediately transform any diesel vehicle to burn 50% less fuel and produce 80% fewer emissions. On a full-size gas-guzzler, he figures the kit earns its money back in about a year--or, on a regular car, two--while hitting an emissions target from the outset that's more stringent than any regulation we're likely to see in our lifetime.