Man Builds 105 MPG Car

I don’t think you would want to take it out on the interstate, but it’s pretty cool to see people working on stuff like this.

$2,500 DIY Cars

Tired of high gas prices? For $2,500 and 1,000 hours, you can build a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon.

In a world where the price of oil is trending towards infinity, large companies are quickly seeking alternative energy sources for transportation. Jory Squibb decided he’d build his own fuel-miser, and set about creating it from second-hand motorcycle parts. The resultant vehicle, christened MOONBEAM, gets 80-85 mpg around town and under economy run conditions (max 40 mph) delivers 105 mpg. Two scooters for the bits cost US $500, and the entire project took 1000 hours (a year of 20 hour weeks) to complete, with a total of US $2000 costs beyond the initial scooters. Moonbeam has a Variable speed transmission, so there’s no gear shifting (hand controls only).

He also provides step-by-step instructions for building your own:

How to Build Moonbeam

Here is the final product:


I am also about to post a story about a guy who built his own solar-powered tractor, and is working on a solar-powered car.

Author: Robert Rapier

Robert Rapier is a seasoned chemical engineer with three decades of international experience in the energy sector. He holds undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics, and a master’s in chemical engineering. Robert has worked extensively in oil refining, production, synthetic fuels, biomass energy, and alcohol production, earning several patents along the way. As Editor-in-Chief of Shale Magazine and a prolific author for Investing Daily, he shares his expertise through various newsletters and his latest book, American Energy: A History of Power, Progress, and Change. Robert's insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, The History Channel, CNBC, and PBS, among others. His articles have appeared in top publications like the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The Economist. For nearly a decade, he has covered the energy sector for Forbes.

5 thoughts on “Man Builds 105 MPG Car”

  2. why not just use the motor cycle he broke up to make the car ? It would do better than 105 mpg and is more road safe

  3. He spent a 1000 hours to make it? Not very practical for the average person. You could walk everywhere you needed to go in a year in less time than that. Hopefully it is faster to build with his instructions.

  4. Tired of high gas prices? For $2,500 and 1,000 hours, you can build a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon.

    You’ve got to admire his gumption and shade-tree mechanic skills, but I question his common sense.

    If he wants high mileage he’d have been better off with a motorcycle or scooter. His Moonbeam doesn’t provide any weather protection and certainly isn’t the chick magnet a Suzuki, Harley, or Vespa would be.

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