
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.”
[...]


“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.”

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%

TheDude wrote: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%



TheDude wrote: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%




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


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.JRP3 wrote: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 wrote: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.
Xenophobe wrote:pstarr wrote: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.

pstarr wrote:Xenophobe wrote:pstarr wrote: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.
You do that little boy.
Xenophobe wrote:I plug my car in instead!
Do you eat organic too? That's nice
So you have extra methane? That's nice
So why don't you plug that in somewhere 


KingM wrote:Can you guys please stop with the childish taunts and insults and start discussing your differences like rational adults?
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests