Natural Gas Vehicles

[OilFinder2]

LINK

GM Places Bet on Natural Gas-Powered Vehicles
By JASON PLAUTZ of Greenwire
Published: June 2, 2010

Automakers have had a mixed history with natural gas in the United States, but General Motors Co. is betting that a new line of fleet vans can bring the technology back.

The automaker is rolling out compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) alternatives to the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana. The two full-sized vans are designed for those who must haul large amounts of equipment but don't need to drive long distances.

The new vans will be available for the 2011 model year. Pricing hasn't yet been released.

"We're listening to our fleet customers and dealers about offering options that help them achieve their business objectives," said Brian Small, general manager of GM's fleet and commercial operations, in a release. "The industry commitment to expand the CNG and LPG infrastructure in key fleet markets was an enabler to allowing us to introduce these options now."

[...]

[Keith_McClary]

Are we talking about this technology that has long been available as conversion kits?

[Ayoob]

The vehicle of the future is the nonelectric bicycle. Get used to it.

[JRP3]

The vehicle of the future is the nonelectric bicycle. Get used to it.

Not in our lifetimes. I doubt it will be NGV's either, pretty sure it's more efficient to use NG in a combined cycle generating plant to charge EV's, including electric bicycles.

[Astaire]

Hi,
The main advantages of natural gas vehicles faces several limitations, including fuel storage and infrastructure available for delivery and distribution at fueling stations. Natural gas must be stored in cylinders, whether it is CNG (compressed) or LNG (liquefied), and these cylinders are usually located in the vehicle's trunk, reducing the space available for other uses, particularly during long distance travel.

edited to remove spam-MD

[jackmartin]

Well Natural Gas Vehicles have been the way of the future of environments.i always believe that all the people should max. try to used a Natural gas vehicle.i have a NGV car.Inmy car put into CNG kit.This kit also required a small space.

[OilFinder2]

Bloomberg

Fiat Turns to Natural Gas as Toyota, GM Go Electric
By Tommaso Ebhardt and Tim Higgins

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- As Sergio Marchionne brings back Fiat SpA to the U.S. after nearly three decades, he may add another Italian speciality: the natural gas engine.

Marchionne, who is chief executive officer of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, says natural gas engines offer a better way to cut emissions because they’re cheaper than competing technologies. He also argues electric cars, which General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are betting on, present “too many obstacles” such as the recharge time for batteries.

“Natural gas is very suitable for the U.S.,” Constantinos Vafidis, who oversees transmission and hybrid development at Fiat’s research center in Turin, Italy, said in an interview. “Especially for public services and goods transportation, where vehicles are refueled from a central base.”

[...]

[pstarr]

“Natural gas is very suitable for the U.S.,” Constantinos Vafidis, who oversees transmission and hybrid development at Fiat’s research center in Turin, Italy, said in an interview. “Especially for public services and goods transportation, where vehicles are refueled from a central base.”

This is precisely how they are used in the US today, in buses. Nothing new here. Next.

[TheDude]

Most NGV happy nations, according to http://www.iangv.org/home.html

Code: Select all

Country        Total Vehicles 2008        NGVs as % of total vehicle population 
            
Myanmar      296,910      3.67%
Tajikistan       162,370         6.53%
Malaysia       366,375      6.82%
Brazil          14,277,600      9.63%
Colombia       1,238,216      10.92%
Bolivia          475,632      13.63%
Argentina       7,608,744      21.69%
Iran                                 -         23.91%
Armenia       327,477         24.85%
Bangladesh    293,472      27.26%
Pakistan       6,217,069      52.00%

[pstarr]

Most NGV happy nations, according to http://www.iangv.org/home.html

Code: Select all

Country        Total Vehicles 2008        NGVs as % of total vehicle population 
            
Myanmar      296,910      3.67%
Tajikistan       162,370         6.53%
Malaysia       366,375      6.82%
Brazil          14,277,600      9.63%
Colombia       1,238,216      10.92%
Bolivia          475,632      13.63%
Argentina       7,608,744      21.69%
Iran                                 -         23.91%
Armenia       327,477         24.85%
Bangladesh    293,472      27.26%
Pakistan       6,217,069      52.00%

Interesting. Why Brazil, Columbia, Bolivia and Argentina? Something about the Samba? Are those beautiful dancing girls powered by NG?

[vision-master]

Samba! They know how to party down there.....

[TheAntiDoomer]

Most NGV happy nations, according to http://www.iangv.org/home.html

Code: Select all

Country        Total Vehicles 2008        NGVs as % of total vehicle population 
            
Myanmar      296,910      3.67%
Tajikistan       162,370         6.53%
Malaysia       366,375      6.82%
Brazil          14,277,600      9.63%
Colombia       1,238,216      10.92%
Bolivia          475,632      13.63%
Argentina       7,608,744      21.69%
Iran                                 -         23.91%
Armenia       327,477         24.85%
Bangladesh    293,472      27.26%
Pakistan       6,217,069      52.00%

Thanks Dude for the info. As you can see by your stats Pakistan has been able to convert 50% of its vehciles to NatGas. Should be no issue for the US with its NatGas wealth, thanks for the good news dude!

[TheDude]

Repeat the part after "hoo wah!"

TOD just had a piece on South American LNG. Nothing about sweaty hotties in feather headresses covered in glitter.

That NGV website is interesting - they seem to have more data on fleets than most anyone else I've found. Maybe it's just BS for marketing...I like how Iran has 23.91% of ?????????? number of vehicles total.

[Graeme]

Roadshow: The pros and cons of driving CNG vehicles

Q A woman recently inquired about CNG vehicles and you invited readers to offer information.

Arlene McClelland

San Jose

A Yes, I did, and dozens who own vehicles that run on compressed natural gas responded with the pros and cons, so here we go.

Q We have owned a Honda Civic CNG car since 1999, and it has more than 130,000 miles. When gasoline was $4 a gallon, CNG was $2 an equivalent gallon. We absolutely love it! The only inconvenience is the scarcity of filling stations. When planning a longer trip, one must know where filling station locations are in each area, so we have a standard gas Accord for longer trips. The gas tank of our Civic CNG holds the equivalent of seven gallons of gas, and I get around 160 miles per fill-up, depending on weather and use of air conditioning. I would like to get another CNG car, but the problem is I don't think this one will wear out anytime soon. Because of how cleanly it burns, maintenance costs are very low.

Arlene McClelland

mercurynews

[JRP3]

That looks very similar to the constraints of the current crop of EV's coming out, though electrical outlets are far more prevalent than CNG stations.

[pstarr]

That looks very similar to the constraints of the current crop of EV's coming out, though electrical outlets are far more prevalent than CNG stations.

jMontequest used to instruct on "solutions in isolation" and I learned my lesson well. To the techtopian mind a lack of infrastructure is merely a bump on the road to technical excellence. In their childish minds, daddy will always finish the hard stuff that the imaginative little boys start. So who cares that no parking lot in the United States has plugs? Please! Doomer! Do not repeat your tiresome mantra that the interstate system has neither high-tension lines nor NG pipelines. God! So negative. God! Do not remind me that farms and timber lands have neither plugs nor NG.

No problem. Just fill the gurney can.

[Xenophobe]

Another debunking which requires but a single picture.



Certainly is a solution to scale if Honda is making them in a factory, and can just switch over from millions of regular Civics to lots of natural gas powered ones.

4 for sale in my local paper.

Anyone want to buy some impossible technology to transport themselves around with? Plenty of natural gas folks, no need to convert to electric, just collect yourselves a nice CNG powered Honda Civic, probably last through at least the next peak oil or two.

[pstarr]

If you are not willing to enter into debate with good faith then you must accept your slap down, biznotch

So I will repeat what I just told you on the Hydrogen Fuel-Cell car thread. Buy one or STFU?

[pstarr]

By the way Xeno, that little home/garage NG compressor in your pictures is a fake. Or rather it was until the company went out of business. No way that a $5,000 100 psi compressor is going to the market. It would take all day to fill a car. And no municipality would even allow such a dangerous device inside a home. Give it up troll.

For the New Year. How about a resolution? Say after me: "I will stop annoying the adults."

[Xenophobe]

By the way Xeno, that little home/garage NG compressor in your pictures is a fake. Or rather it was until the company went out of business. No way that a $5,000 100 psi compressor is going to the market.

So I'll go build one. It wasn't that hard the last time I did it, but whats the matter? Now that there are actually CNG cars available for sale you focus on something so horrifying complex as...a gas compressor?

OMG! WE ALL MUST DIE BECAUSE OF PEAK GAS COMPRESSORS FOR OUR CNG POWERED CARS!!

Good one....you do realize this is a brave new year this morning, right? A brave new world with plentiful fuel supplies, and CNG, EV and H2 powered cars running around the streets of America? Reality can be a real pain for a McDoomster I suppose....but hang in there! If someone won't build a CNG conversion for your POS Tracker, I'm sure I can jimmy one up...done that before as well, just not to a motor that big. Well, maybe that big, those things have like midget 1.6L 4 bangers in them....?