WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?

1908 MODEL T

Using alternative fuels is nothing new; ethanol has been used to power engines since the mid-1800s and even the first mass-production car, the Ford Model T, was able to run on various alternatives to gasoline, such as ethanol or kerosene.

Now, there is something of an urban legend that says the Model T was designed to run on alternative fuels from the start, and given that Henry Ford himself came from a farming background where the idea of running a car on ethanol produced from growing corn on your own land would certainly appeal, the story does indeed seem feasible. But alas, despite it becoming ‘fact’ on the internet, Hemmings Motor News in America well and truly debunked the myth in 2017.

But just because the Model T didn’t come with the dash switch that many old timers swear allowed drivers to swap between gasoline and ethanol, the Model T could indeed run on virtually any liquid hydrocarbon thanks to its incredibly low compression ratio – and it was needed when oil companies at the time used to dilute rare and expensive gasoline with kerosene.

A bit like modern EVs today, the Model T faced challenges with fuelling (there wasn’t a petrol station on every road in the 1900s), which is likely where many of the myths started. It’s also, no doubt, part of the reason many owners