LPG/CNG powered buses and even trucks has proven very successful and quite popular in many countries, More economical and "greener" than the Gas/Diesel powered ones, However in the small, medium & SUV sector they're still a rarity, Why the big car makers doesn't switch to a cleaner and cheaper fuel? I think the benefits will outweigh the downsides since the CNG/LPG engines is very similar to the conventional ones!
2007-03-09 15:14:31 · 8 answers · asked by MD-11 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
I doubt the filling stations will be a major challenge to the developed countries, I've seen many gas stations which supply LPG/CNG beside the conventional fuels in my town.
2007-03-10 11:18:00 · update #1
yeah those fuels are little cheaper, but you cant travel as far as you can on CNG as you can with gasoline because CNG doesnt have as much of a power value, so it takes more CNG to give the same amount of power that gasoline has with less space. that means there would have to be the means of refueling with CNG along a road more often. becuase size is everything and the size of a fuel tank probably wont get bigger than what already is in a car.Also CNG takes is exactly that. Compressed natural gas. At the gas station there has to be a monstrous compressor that is fed by a natural gas line that Compresses the gas line into a storage tank.
And the engines are that much more expensive because they have to seal in the gas, and have to have special valve seats installed. You can run a gasoline engine for 250,000 miles plus, even if you dont have good compression and seals in the cylinders, but you cant do that with CNG because the majority of the gas would leak away long before it could ignite in the combustion chamber. Dont get me wrong, I would love to have a dual fuel conversion kit for my 99 GMC Suburban Gasoline/CNG partly because its available on my military installation, for all of their busses, and gasoline out here is $3.20 a gal.
2007-03-13 17:31:45 · answer #1 · answered by 4acee@sbcglobal.net 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lpg isn't that bad to find in most places although the hours are usually not conducive to night or weekend travel. Some truck stops have LPG but CNG is a horse of a different color. Few if any CNG fillups in most places and the buses really aren't that good. The Capitol Metro in Austin made a big deal about going green with CNG buses a few years ago. But when they proved to be totally unreliable they very quietly dumped them and returned to diesel. LPG conversions have been used, for a long time, by some construction contractors on their pickups. It is a very expensive conversion and presently LPG is more expensive than regular gas so no longer a cost savings. There is also a bit of a problem with LPG conversions if you're doing a lot of highway driving. They tend to run hot if run at sustained highway speeds.
2007-03-09 15:35:59 · answer #2 · answered by mustanger 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The main problem is not the finding of fueling stations or the added weight of the tanks, it's the amount of power you get from each fuel. This is the order of fuel energy per pound of fuel; diesel, gasoline, propane, natural gas. It's hard to make a muscle car engine from NG, also from diesel. Gas is easy to produce and deliver. Is this right? NO but convenient, YES. Tell this to any "gear head" and they will give you another opinion.
2007-03-09 16:05:03 · answer #3 · answered by Lab 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure, the filling station quandary exists, but mainly because the stuff is so volatile. And we have sort of a "chicken 'n egg" thing. Which should come first; the stations or the cars? There are fleets of municipal vehicles that are testing these fuels. The cities, or other political subdivisions, can easily fuel their own cars and trucks. And they know how to handle that fuel. Plus they can buy the converted vehicles from the manufacturers, built to specifications. So there may be more on the road in the future, but they are in a "race" with electric cars. Which do you think will win?
2016-03-28 22:18:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a huge network of gas stations for filling up any vehicle with gasoline or diesel. Changing this network to an alternative fuel would cost billions of dollars. If this change happens, consumer interest in alternative fuel vehicles will go up. No one wants to drive a vehicle that is hard to get fuel for. It sucks bad enough just to have to stop for gas as it is.
2007-03-09 15:24:13 · answer #5 · answered by jerr_ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
CNG tanks contain 3000 to 4500 psi, in a small vehicle its tough to properly protect them in case of a collision, I think this is the main obstacle. You could probably take out a city block if one of these tanks blew.
2007-03-09 15:26:21 · answer #6 · answered by cimra 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
ever try finding a cng or lpg filling station?
2007-03-09 15:18:53 · answer #7 · answered by schizophreniabeatsdiningalone 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The infrastructure is not in place to support them
2007-03-09 20:59:09 · answer #8 · answered by Jmmy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋