Posted on 10/17/2013 6:06:17 AM PDT by thackney
Capitalizing on America’s abundant supply of clean-burning, low-cost natural gas, General Motors said Wednesday it will build a Chevrolet Impala sedan that can operate on either gasoline or compressed natural gas and travel up to 500 miles between fill-ups.
The bi-fuel Impala, which goes on sale summer as a 2015 model, could be the start of something big. Honda Motor has been selling a natural gas-powered Civic since 2011 and while still modest, sales have been steadily rising. The Japanese carmaker is on track to sell about 2,500 CNG Civics this year, up from 1,900 in 2012 and 1,200 the year before. In July, Ford Motor said its most popular vehicle, the F-150 pickup, will be offered with a compressed natural gas engine starting in the 2014 model year.
“Natural gas will grow increasingly attractive as an alternative fuel source, as we’ve seen each year with natural gas Honda Civic sales, particularly in areas like California where HOV lane access is available,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “The lack of infrastructure remains a hurdle, but if more automakers begin to offer CNG-powered vehicles, we could see a greater push for access to CNG in the years to come.”
The Impala’s bi-fuel powertrain is engineered to switch seamlessly from CNG to gasoline, which should reassure consumers worried about finding a place to refuel. For business fleet customers, whose drivers return to a central location, CNG refueling shouldn’t be a problem. GM did not announce the new car’s price, which is likely to be higher than the standard gas model, but savings at the pump could offset that extra payout quickly.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Competing projects propose $500 home CNG fueler
http://www.cngnow.com/news/Post.aspx?ID=688
They fill overnight. Also most people don’t drive 500 miles every day.
In good conditions, my GMC Duramax can go 500 miles on a tank. In perfect, 600 miles. On straight #2 Diesel. Diesels are easy to convert to CNG.. Add the tank, control system (regulated by boost pressure) and a nozzle in the intake to fumigate the intake with CNG. The kit is very affordable. I considered doing the conversion but the tall pole in the tent was a place to fill the CNG. I have natural gas in my house, but the pump cost $15K last I checked and had to be rebuilt every 40 hours of use. The only other places to fill the CNG around me were municipal filling stations.
That can be worked around, by doing the thing modular. Keep two tanks, one being always recharged. Load charged tank instead of charging the car.
How big a tank?
They lost me at “chevy”.
You left gasoline out of your dangerous materials list.
I saw sometimes 20 full propane tankers on the railroad going though the campus at Colorado State University. Each one was capable of wiping out a radius of one mile.
The Russians have a bomb that weighs about 30,000 pounds and uses fuel for its explosive. It is a “Fuel Air Explosive” device which is their largest non nuclear device.
You can buy a lot of diesel for $15k.
The original manufacture of the Phill home CNG unit went out of business, mostly due to their quality problems and poor reliability many years ago. The rights to the name and product were purchased by BRC, a commercial CNG refueling manufacture.
The housing may look similar, but it is a far better unit and should be closer to $5,000 installed unless you have other onsite issues.
http://www.brcfuelmaker.it/phill-domestico-prodotto-brc-fuel-maker.aspx
Also, depending on where you live, more CNG commercial stations are opening up.
Natural Gas Fueling Station Locations
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/natural_gas_locations.html
In some locations, lease option of the compressor is also available.
http://www.northwest.williams.com/Files/Northwest/AGL_LDC_NGV_Mtg_Fuelmaker_Presentation_2-29-12.pdf
Well, crap. I’m the one confusing the two. Sorry.
It’s probably just a matter of time before the states/government jacks up the taxes on CNG to make up for what they lost on gasoline.
Dumb article....cars have been running on N gas for at least 40 yrs that I know of....geeeeeeeeez. Conversion is simple. Loss of power can be expected tho.
Cars,taxis and buses in Colombia are converting at a rapid rate..no guv program just market realities. Gasoline is more expensive there than the US.
“LNG is not going to be economic for consumers like you and I. It works great for fleet service or long-haul trucking. But the need to either keep the engine running or the tank temperature below -260°F after a few days of non-use is not going be an economic solution for a daily driver.”
The article was about “CNG” not “LNG”.
The energy density of LNG is only 2.4 times greater than that of CNG, but CNG doesn’t require cryogenic temperatures.
24 gallons. I've significantly modified my engine, emissions and drivetrain to achieve that mileage BTW. Kind of a hobby..
Some years ago my employer at the time, a local government entity, looked into getting a CNG refueling station for the fleet. There were two systems available for fleets at the time.
There was a slow fill system where the vehicles refilled overnight.
Then there was an expensive $10,000+ system that refilled each car in around 5 minutes.
That was at least 10-15 years ago. I can't imagine that the technology has become worse during that time.
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