Maui Residents Get Creative to Beat High Gas Prices

Signs of the High Gas Prices Crisis are evident on Maui streets and roadways, as clever residents roll around in new types of vehicles that don't rely on fossil fuels.

Scott Kukini of Kahului was tired of spending triple digits to keep filling the tank of his Toyota Tacoma. So he found inspiration in a transportation mode he remembered as a kid.

"I remembered Fred Flintstone in his cool 'Flintstones' car tipping over when that waitress dropped that huge slab of dinosaur meat on a drive-through tray," Kukini said. "So I looked up photos of that car, and yelled 'Yabba dabba doo!' We have all those materials on Maui!

"So I spent a day with friends cruising deep into Upcountry, and other areas, got the wood and the huge tube stones, and built my own."

Kukini is not alone. Here are examples that keen Maui Insight readers sent in the past week:

• Sail Car. Some genius in Kihei has attached a huge mast and sail to his Tacoma, taking advantage of the gusty South Maui afternoons there to get up and down S. Kihei Road. "I can almost go as fast as all those silly rental scooters," said Bob Luina of Kihei.
• Mushroom Engine. Edwin Chong of Kula devised a motor engine that runs on magic mushrooms he can easily harvest by the ton in Upcountry. "Surprisingly, when dried right, they burn well and create just enough steam to get me moving. I just worry about the drivers behind me. They seem a bit dazed, but maybe it's just how my Tacoma looks."
• Wave Energy. Visitor Dean Kunicki actually figured out how to use cells he leaves in waves overnight to capture energy from all the swells and ebbs and flows, to plug into his rented Tacoma engine and get around the island for a week. "It's a bit of a task anchoring all those cells into the water right where the waves hit, and some fishermen aren't too cool about it, but hey, it will save me like two grand in gas fill-ups for the week!"

Kukini of Kahului warned, however, that such vehicles can have their own drawbacks.

"I seem to have to buy new shoes every week or so," he said. "Braking is a little hard to do."