According to Henry Ford and General Motors scientist Charles Kettering, Ethyl Alcohol made from farm products and cellulose materials were the fuels of the future. Henry Ford’s support for alternative fuel sources culminated in the Dearborn Michigan “Chemurgy” conferences in the 1930’s. By then alcohol powered vehicles had been used in Europe for 50 years.
1908 - The first Ford Model T left the factory. The engine was a flexible hybrid engine capable of using ethanol, gasoline or kerosene. This car was produced until 1927.
1920 - During the prohibition era in the United States, it was illegal to sell, manufacture and transport alcohol. This made it impractical to use ethanol cars. Ethanol fuel sellers were accused of being allied with moonshiners. To this day, ethanol can only be sold when mixed with gasoline.
Oil prices dropped to near giveaway levels after WWII. This solidified the position of petroleum-based products as the least expensive and most viable transportation fuels until the 1970’s, with no consideration of petroleum’s non-renewable and environmentally hostile qualities.
