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Wood-Powered Cadillac Cruises Past Gas Stations

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Tired of paying ridiculous prices at the pump? Longing for days like this from yesteryear?

low gas prices

Then maybe you should follow in one Iowa man’s shoes and craft your own wood-powered Cadillac (or maybe just get an EV).

Herb Hartman made his own wood-powered Cadillac.

Herb Hartman made his own wood-powered Cadillac.

Herb Hartman is a retired machinist living in (funnily enough) Woodward, Iowa, and attached the “gasifier” to the back of his Cadillac for just about $700. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about paying for gas (except for the small bit of gas required to power up the Caddy). He does, however, have to get the wood from a friend and then split it himself before feeding it to his wood-hungry Cadillac.

wood-powered Cadillac

Hartman’s wood-powered Cadillac


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Hartman told WHO-TV, “A full hopper will go about fifty miles depending on how you drive it,” and he added that splitting the wood was “labor intensive. That’s the big drawback.”

Wood-Powered Cadillac

The Cadillac hitting the road

According to Hartman, the wood-powered Cadillac drives just like a regular Cadillac. He just has to tote along his giant gasifier to get from A to B. Reportedly, he’s put about 5,000 miles on the wood-powered Cadillac since he woodified it.


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