What's
the Status of Natural Gas Vehicles?
In years past, a number of auto manufacturers offered cars and light trucks that could operate on compressed natural gas (CNG). All automakers except Honda have left this market in the U.S., although companies like BAF Technologies do modify select existing models to run on gaseous fuels. This lack of CNG vehicles should change for the better since natural gas has so much going for it, especially in this age of rising gasoline and diesel prices and a growing dependence on imported oil. Natural gas is the cleanest burning of all fossil fuels, it's found in abundance in the U.S., and it's also significantly less expensive than gasoline.
Safe
and Reliable
CNG is actually a safer fuel than gasoline. After all, natural gas is used in virtually every home. Unlike gasoline that can pool on the ground in the event of an accident or leak, CNG dissipates harmlessly into the air. With a very narrow range of flammability to be combustible and nearly twice the ignition temperature of gasoline, it's also less likely to cause a fire. Because natural gas is such a clean burning fuel, carbon deposits in an engine are nil, reducing cylinder and ring wear so engine life can be much greater than when running on gasoline. Oil change and tune up intervals can also be extended.
Natural Gas is Growing in Popularity
Natural Gas
Vehicles are growing in popularity. With the rising gas prices people are starting to look for alternative energy cars. Even though electric cars are starting to gain popularity thanks to Elon Musk and Tesla Motors, natural gas vehicles are still gaining demand. One thing these all have in common is that they can be refueled at a central location. This
is not the case with cars and light trucks that travel where natural gas might
be difficult to find. This could
have contributed to the lack of
interest in natural gas vehicles by
general consumers in the past. In
recent years, companies like Clean
Energy have successfully driven
natural gas vehicle use by building
fueling stations and supplying
natural gas under multi-year
contracts to fleets at costs
significantly less than the
per-gallon cost of gasoline or
diesel. Fleet use should lead to
greater consumer use in the future.
Convenient At-Home Refueling
At present there are about 800
natural gas stations available
nationwide, compared to 175,000
stations dispensing gasoline.
Refueling at a fast-fill CNG station
takes no longer than tanking up with
gasoline. As the fueling
infrastructure builds for CNG, the
inconvenience of limited public
fueling opportunities is softened by
the availability of filling up at
home. That’s because Honda offers
the Phill home refueling appliance,
which was developed in conjunction
with its Canadian technology partner
Fuelmaker and is now manufactured by
that company. Phill can be installed
in a garage or outside a home to
allow refueling using a home's
natural gas supply. The refueling
appliance does require as much as 16
hours to fill an almost empty tank,
although it’s likely that a natural
gas vehicle refueled at home will
rarely have an empty tank, and an
overnight top-off will usually be
sufficient for the daily commute. In
many cases, vehicles fueled up at
favorable natural gas home rates can
operate as cheaply as the equivalent
of $1.25 to $1.50 per gallon.
Honda’s Civic GX
Unlike bi-fuel vehicles previously
offered by other automakers that
could run alternatively on natural
gas or gasoline, Honda’s “dedicated”
natural gas Civic GX – the
industry’s cleanest internal
combustion production vehicle – has
an engine that’s optimized to run
only on this alternative fuel. The
Civic GX comes only as a four door
sedan that looks identical to
gasoline Civics. Its 113 horsepower
four-cylinder engine produces about
27 hp less than the standard Civic
engine but you really can’t feel the
difference during normal driving.
The equivalent of 8 gallons of
natural gas fuel is stored in a 3600
psi pressurized fuel cylinder
located at the forward part of the
trunk. This tank, which is hidden
behind a carpeted liner, does
consume some trunk space but leaves
quite adequate room for carrying
groceries, gear, and luggage. The
Civic GX has an EPA estimated 24 mpg
city/36 mpg highway fuel rating,
about the same as the gasoline
Civic. Its real-world driving range
is approximately 200 miles between
fill-ups. At $25,225, the GX costs
about $7,000 more than the gasoline
powered LX model but presently
qualifies for substantial federal
tax credits and other incentives. At
this time in California you can even
obtain a decal that allows driving a
Civic GX in HOV (High Occupancy
Vehicle, or “carpool”) lanes even
with only one person in the car.
This is the same benefit enjoyed by
qualified hybrid cars that were issued decals in the
state, although no new hybrid decals
are available since the maximum
allocation of hybrid HOV decals has
been reached.
Natural Gas Cars
Natural Gas Cars are in production in many european and south american countries. There is only one company Honda Civic NGV , that produces a Natural Gas car here in the United States. Natural Gas Car technology is nothing new in fact GM and Ford both Manufacture and sell Natural Gas Cars in many countries. Natural Gas Cars provide a different alternative over electric cars which are limited in driving range.
Natural Gas Trucks
Today Many companies are looking to purchase Natural Gas Trucks for their Fleets this trend is increasing dramaticlally . Natural Gas Trucks can save Companies Money as Natural Gas is much Cheaper then Diesel fuel . It is also part of the Companies strategic plan on reducing Carbon Emissions as Natural Gas burns Cleaner then Diesel . Natural Gas Truck sales according to Pike Research will increase 10 percent every year unti! l 2020 . Natural Gas Trucks are already being used by Companies that inlude Fed Ex, ATT, UPS, Caterpillar . Shell and Clean Energy are companies that are building natural gas corridors across America . Enabling the trucking industry to take advantage of Cheap Natural Gas . Natural Gas Trucks will soon be the norm on our Roadways in the near future.
Natural Gas Vehicle Conversions
Natural Gas Vehicle Conversions are regulated . One should check with their state regarding Converting a car or truck over to Natural Gas . Natural Gas Vehicle Conversions cost varies.
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