Archive for the ‘natural gas cars’ Category
What is the cost per mile for a car running on compressed natural gas?
Is is cheaper to run a car on natural gas or regular gasoline?
I wish I could give you an exact figure, but I’m at a loss. I drive a natural gas Honda Civic.
It gets at least 180 miles per tank when filled at 3600 psi. MPG is 30/34. The station I fueled at the other day was selling at $2.27 gas gallon equivalent — on the high side for my area (San Francisco Bay Area). Gasoline is selling for about $3.43 (I think). When I fuel at a fast fuel station like that, it generally takes about 5 gges. If I were to fuel at home with a Phill home fueling unit (which I don’t have), it would do a slow fill and (I’ve heard) add more gges than a fast fill. (This is why I’m uncomfortable doing the calculation for you — the gges for a full tank could be different. My guess is that fuel costs per mile are about half that of a gasoline car.)
Because of supply and demand, CNG is more expensive in winter (people heating their homes) and less in summer. Gasoline has the opposite pattern. Despite that, in the three years I’ve had the car, CNG was only more expensive once for about a month — by 25 cents/gge, after Katrina.
Aside from fuel costs, CNG is very clean, and my car only needs oil changes every 7500 miles (per maintenance manual). CNG engines last a long time, and stay remarkably clean in comparison to gasoline engines.
In reference to the other answerer’s comment… CNG tanks are *extremely* sturdy. Also, CNG is lighter than air, so if the tank does leak or burst in an accident, the gas disperses up into the air instead of pooling around the car like gasoline does.
ease of having a CNG car at home and fueling at home
This is the way off foreign oil right here. We have plenty of Natural gas and companies like this make it easy to fuel your car at home from Natural as that is already plumed into your home
Duration : 0:5:10
hydrogen or natural gas car conversion?
is there any difference in the equipment required to convert a gas car to hydrogen as opposed to converting it to run on natural gas. with the exception of timing related components ie: ignition coil, and maybe the gas fittings?
fuel to air ratio
ignition point
knocking resistivity
-> so basically to get the most out of it you would need an adapted electronic.
seals (as hydrogen are among the smallest atoms)
storage (as hydrogen storage is much more dangerous)
fire protection equipment
If cars could be run by natural gas, why did we rely on foreign oil all these years?
T. Boone Pickens mentions this in his commercials. Why didn’t we convert years ago? And how easy would it be?
Were we just puppets in the hands of "big oil?" Did they know this all along?
Untill recently, gasoline has always been low cost fuel. So for 100 years the infrastructure was built around low cost oil. Changing the entire gasoline infastructure would take years. Also, do you want to compete with home heating gas for transportation? It would set us up for massive cost increases and shortages.
natural gas is half the price of gasoline
why the US does not have policies supporting alternative fuels such as other countries have?
from Sydney, NSW, Australia
Duration : 0:0:37
Why don’t people already use Natural Gas powered cars?
First of all that is not true. In my country, LPG (that’s gas) powered cars are most common. Almost every gas station also has a LPG tank. However there are certain "issues".
1. The tank is very heavy (up to 100 kilos) and takes a lot of room inside the trunk usually.
2. The smell. For safety purposes, gas is "perfumed" using mercaptane, that has an odour most similar to decomposing meat or fart.
3. The lower HP per liter, due to inferior calorific power of the LPG.
4. Also, cars must also have gas supply. Starting the engine on LPG is not advisable. It should be started on gasoline.
5. Can only be adapted to gasoline engines. Not for Diesels.
6. Most dangerous in case of accident or fire. May explode.
The most important advantage is price of LPG which is 30-25% of that of gasoline. Also, it does not pollute through emissions.
Of course, an engine running on LPG will not have the same power and "swing" as one running on gasoline.
Natural gas powered cars- FNC, Hennenberg 07/09/2009
FNC’s Molly Hennenberg discusses the pros and cons of natural gas powered cars pertaining to Senator Hatch and Senator Menendez’s initiative.
Duration : 0:0:30
Should we buy a natural gas car?
We are thinking of buying a natural gas Honda Civic 09. The price is around 25k. I’ve heard that finding a fueling center can be hard and then they might be out of fuel. Would it be cost effective enough over time? would it be better to go with a hybrid?
I definitely would. If you don’t live in CA, NY, or Canada, filling stations will be harder to come by, but you can always install a natural gas compressor in your home garage and fill it there. It’s nice to fill your car every night and never have to worry about going to a gas station.
The Honda CNG vehicles can only go around 250-300 miles on a full tank, so they wouldn’t be good for long distance travel. Also trunk space is limited because of the gas tank. But those are the only negatives.
The positives: You’ll pay about 1/2 the price of regular gas, the cars run completely quiet, the only "fumes" they emit are water vapor, you can get major tax deductions for having an energy efficient vehicle, and in many states you can use HOV lanes without needing an extra passenger.
If I had the money, I would buy one tomorrow.
Should we buy a natural gas car?
We are thinking of buying a natural gas Honda Civic 09. The price is around 25k. I’ve heard that finding a fueling center can be hard and then they might be out of fuel. Would it be cost effective enough over time? would it be better to go with a hybrid?
I definitely would. If you don’t live in CA, NY, or Canada, filling stations will be harder to come by, but you can always install a natural gas compressor in your home garage and fill it there. It’s nice to fill your car every night and never have to worry about going to a gas station.
The Honda CNG vehicles can only go around 250-300 miles on a full tank, so they wouldn’t be good for long distance travel. Also trunk space is limited because of the gas tank. But those are the only negatives.
The positives: You’ll pay about 1/2 the price of regular gas, the cars run completely quiet, the only "fumes" they emit are water vapor, you can get major tax deductions for having an energy efficient vehicle, and in many states you can use HOV lanes without needing an extra passenger.
If I had the money, I would buy one tomorrow.
Is there an alternative fuel source for cars besides hydogen and natural gas. What about ethanol?
Cars can potentially run on anything from wind power to used vegetable oil. Anything that can be burned or make electricity can potentially power a car.
Ethanol is used in some areas, but is really more of a suppliment than a true alternative since it is mixed with gasoline. Ethanol is usually only 5% ehtanol with gasoline making up the remaining 95%.
Natural gas is fairly common in public vehicles like police cars and school busses, but is not a viable long term solution since it is still a fossil fuel.
Used vegetable oil is one of the more interesting alternatives. Not only is it abundant and cheap, it ultimately comes from a plant, making it a truly renewable energy source. Diesel engines can run on used vegetable oil with no modifications, which has contributed to it’s success as a fuel. Trouble is that even with all the fried foods Americans eat, there isn’t enough to power a significant portion of the vehicles on the road.
Ultimately, the only truly viable alternative fuel will be no fuel at all. Eventually, I would expect to see electric cars making use of a combination of solar, battery and/or hydrogen fuel cells.