Prince Charles has started running his classic Aston Martin DB5 on wine, it has been revealed. The drop-top Aston was given to him by the Queen on his 21
birthday in 1969 and has now been overhauled to make it more environmentally friendly.
The conversion of the 15mpg car was listed in the Prince’s annual review as one of the methods he took to reduce his carbon emissions last year by 18%. The car apparently now runs on ‘100% bioethanol made from surplus wine’.
According to Sir Michael Peat, the Prince’s private secretary, the wine was not leftovers from parties but came from a vineyard in Wiltshire. ‘I think the wine is surplus English wine,’ he said. ‘It’s wonderful. It’s not corked.’
It is understood that the eco-friendly fuel burns nearly 10% more efficiently than petrol and makes the car go 15mph faster. It is also cheaper than petrol at £1.10 a litre.
James Hygate, managing director of Greenfuels, the firm that sells the fuel, said: ‘We were asked whether it would be possible to run the Prince’s Aston Martin on a waste product. We have come up with a means by which ordinary white wine can be converted into bioethanol which can be used as a fuel.’
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