Give the planet a vacation the next time you take one…rent a Bio-Beetle!

Founded in Maui, Hawaii, Bio-Beetle is the nation’s first 100% biodiesel car rental company.  The company offers cars for rent in Maui and Los Angeles, but plans on expanding to other cities soon.

“Our mission is to be the greenest, therefore the best, rental car company on the planet,” said Shaun Stenshol, president of Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars.  “We are working to reduce our negative impact on the earth while educating and making it easier for those around us to do the same.”

For more, visit www.bio-beetle.com.

Maui Markets Biodiesel – Response is Overwhelming

by Kelly Mescher

Most people don’t believe a car can actually run on modified vegetable oil. That’s according to Shaun Stenshol, owner of a 2000 Volkswagon Beetle rental car, fueled by 100 percent biodiesel.

“Is that thing for real?” Stenshol says with a laugh. “That’s usually what comes out of their mouths. And that leads me into discussion with them about biodiesel. We get lots of questions.”

The “Bio-Beetle” has stickers on both sides, telling by-passers that it’s ‘Powered By 100% Recycled Vegetable Oil.’ It’s rented out to curious customers through Maui Car Rentals, located in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. A “paradise” where there is no public transportation and the thousands of daily tourists must find their own means of getting around, Stenshol says. He longed to see people using something more environmentally friendly - yet dependable - that supports both our economy and our nation’s farmers.

“ I’ve been wanting to do this for years,” Stenshol says. “My main passion is proving to people that there are renewable fuels that will help us find environmental stability. Right now we’re relying on fuel from parts of the world that are unstable. We could be growing our own fuel, supporting our own farmers and creating more jobs locally. It would be great, and a boom for the economy.”

Stenshol himself drives a 2000 Volkswagon Golf, with all 40,000 miles powered by 100 percent biodiesel (getting about 600-650 miles per tank). But he always dreamed of letting others experience the renewable fuel for themselves. So he finally made that dream a reality.

That dream was also made possible by Pacific Biodiesel: one of the first commercially viable biodiesel plants in the U.S., established in 1996. Although the Bio-Beetle has been available to rent since only January 31, it’s so popular already that it’s been booked for a few weeks in advance, says Eric Schneider, manager at Maui Car Rentals. “The customers who are renting the car right now had people asking them questions left and right – everywhere they went. So they came back in the other day to get business cards so they could give them to all of the people asking about the Bio-Beetle.”

Stenshol wishes more car manufacturers sold diesel engine cars in the U.S. Of all diesel carmakers, Volkswagon is currently the only brand sold in the U.S. The Iowa Soybean Promotion Board and Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board have made an investment of checkoff dollars to increase the awareness and demand for soy biodiesel. For more information, please visit www.iasoybeans.com, www.ilsoy.org, and www.bio-beetle.com.