Hailing a cab in the city could get a little tastier
CITYWIDE — That urge to pull over for an order of French fries may prove more difficult to ignore in the weeks ahead.
In an effort to save its drivers gas money, and be environmentally friendly at the same time, Santa Monica-based cab company Taxi Taxi is in the process of converting a fleet of four Mercedes S-class diesel vehicles to operate on renewable sources... such as vegetable oil.
It’s the 17-year-old company’s first step toward phasing out all of its gas-powered and diesel vehicles, which are viewed by many as enemies of the environment and have proven costly to maintain in light of rising crude oil prices.
The first Taxi Taxi vehicle underwent its transformation on Saturday at Lovecraft Bio-Fuels, a Los Angeles-based biodiesel and vegetable oil conversion company.
The complicated process, which can take as little as two hours, involves installing a dual heater to make the oil more combustible, and a high flow filtration system to allow the vehicle to handle thicker fuel.
“You end up with less smoke and better mileage,” said Brian Lovecraft, founder and co-owner of Lovecraft Bio-Fuels.
Once the transformation is completed, it is designed to run on new or used filtered vegetable oil, diesel or biodiesel, which is produced from natural oils like soybean oils.
Since no gas stations in Santa Monica offer biodiesel fuel, Taxi Taxi plans to fill up its converted vehicles with a mixture of veggie oil and diesel.
The company could be the first in California to adopt biodiesel vehicles.
The entire process of converting 10 percent of Taxi Taxi’s vehicles to allow biodiesel and vegetable oil is expected to set the company back approximately $4,000, or $1,000 per vehicle.
But the price is more than worth it, says co-owner Ayman Radwan, because the taxi drivers, who pay for their own fuel, are expected to save $2,000 on diesel a year, and the conversion will result in cleaner emissions.
“It will make the residents more aware of the businesses that are trying to be environmentally friendly,” Radwan said on Monday.
The conversion has other benefits as well. Besides cleaner emissions and lower costs, the alternative fuel causes the engine to run quietly because vegetable oil and biodiesel fuel provide better lubrication.
“It also supports the U.S. economy and farmers,” Lovecraft said, “unlike petroleum, where you’re sending all the money out of the country.
“It’s cheaper and cleaner. I’ve yet to find a dark side to it.”
The price of biodiesel fuel can run anywhere from free to $4.75 a gallon, considered to be the most expensive. Some customers obtain free fuel by using used oil from their own kitchens or from restaurants that typically give the used oil away.
The risk of used oil is it can clog up the fuel system if it is not properly filtered. Lovecraft said he occasionally has to pump out a tank because customers use oil that had bits of food floating inside.
The one drawback of biodiesel and vegetable fuel is the power loss of the vehicle, estimated to be between 3 and 5 percent. But the engine gains efficiency in exchange, Lovecraft said.
Biodiesel and veggie oil conversion has caught on since Lovecraft Bio-Fuels started about five years ago. The company works on three to five cars each day, and is closing in on its 1,000 conversion.
In August of this year, STAR European purchased biodiesel and veggie oil transformation kits from Lovecraft Bio-Fuels and began conducting conversions for its own customers. The European auto maintenance and repair company has performed five conversions so far.
“We believe in the system,” said Mario Vizcaya, service manager of the Costa Mesa company that considers itself the Orange County branch of Lovecraft Bio-Fuels.“There’s no pollution and zero contamination.”
Taxi Taxi would like to convert 10 percent of its fleet to biodiesel every year and add some hybrid vehicles to its lineup. The intention is to rid the company of all its gas and environmentally unfriendly vehicles, said Wendy Radwan, director of client and public relations for Taxi Taxi.
The company has ordered two more Mercedes S-Class vehicles, which they will also convert to biodiesel.
In order to add the expensive hybrid vehicles, Taxi Taxi, which usually purchases used Mercedes, is looking for a corporate sponsor to donate a Toyota Prius. In exchange, Taxi Taxi will completely cover the Prius in advertising for the sponsor.
It’s perhaps the easiest and cheapest way for Taxi Taxi to add a Prius, which can cost approximately $22,000 and comes with a waiting list, Ayman Radwan said.
“It gets very good gas mileage and it will also be faster for our drivers because they can drive in the carpool lane,” Radwan said of the Prius.“It’s going to save a lot of money for our drivers.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 21, 2006. Read the original PDF.