Natural Gas: An Alternative?

[rh77]

NGV's are pretty popular in the fleet market -- such as transit buses and other City vehicles.

One of the most popular cars in this market is the Civic GX. The GX Compressed Natural Gas sedan is also available to the retail public.

CNG is known to have fewer emissions, and doesn't require an ambient liquid that has to be "manufactured" (i.e. Diesel, Ethanol, or any other refined fuel).

OK -- enough background, why the thread? Many people ask, "what will your next vehicle be?" I honestly haven't thought that far ahead, but if I had to choose tomorrow, should it burn CNG?

Let's say the weekly commute doesn't exceed 200 miles, the CNG is available to the public at a City-Owned refueling station, and it's cost effective. The question is why not?

So, does anyone have any experience with CNG/LNG, or have an opinion on the subject?

-RH77

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I have an opinion like an @$$h0l3, er.... Wait. In any event, it has the same fatal flaw all new cars do. They're new. Aside from that, it seems to be a pretty nice deal. The engine should outlast the car, and since the price of a GGE of CNG (Equivalent to a gallon of gasoline energy wise) is around $2 and the supposed price of the same amount via the Phill is about $1, it'll cost ~1/3-2/3rds of what a gasoline powered version would cost. While needing less to maintain. Out of all the new cars out there this is probably the cheapest and easiest over it's life imo.

[cfg83]

rh77 -

Check out your topography. How convenient is it for you to refuel at the NGV station? I know that for me, I have lot's of places in SoCal. However, if I want to drive to San Francisco, I should take route 99, not the 5, because that's where the NGV stations are.

It looks like you have 5 stations in the Kansas City area :

Alternative Fuel Station Locator
http://afdcmap2.nrel.gov/locator/FindPane.asp
Attachment 862

If I wanted NGV, I have it pretty good :

In Southern California (where 50% of all US NGVs are in use) alone, there are over 100 public fueling stations in major metropolitan areas from San Francisco to the Mexican border. The fueling infrastructure for natural gas vehicles continues to grow daily, with new stations being added all the time.

California NGV Coalition Natural Gas Fueling Station Directory
http://www.cngvc.org/ngv/cngvc.nsf/a...ry_05-6-20.pdf
Attachment 861


CarloSW2

[rh77]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

In any event, it has the same fatal flaw all new cars do. They're new.

True -- I probably wouldn't buy a brand-new one -- so we have the 1.6L from '98-'00 to choose from. Then the 1.7 ('01-'05) and 1.8 later-on in '06+. Of course, it's tough to find the older ones -- and any with a manual trans (not sold).

...which might leave a transplant of sorts into a manual Civic.

[rh77]

Buggah...

I live close to Station #386 at the bottom of the map -- which I found earlier as being available to the public, but now the website link mentions that it's "Private/Government only". The only public one is out of my way on the Kansas side. The Phill system isn't legal here yet, unfortunately

Some icons on the map are airports and stuff -- maybe they allow the public to use.

But yeah, SoCal definitely has a few more locations I hear you even get the coveted "HOV Sticker" with the CNG...

RH77

Originally Posted by cfg83

rh77 -

Check out your topography. How convenient is it for you to refuel at the NGV station? I know that for me, I have lot's of places in SoCal. However, if I want to drive to San Francisco, I should take route 99, not the 5, because that's where the NGV stations are.

It looks like you have 5 stations in the Kansas City area...

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I saw a couple on eh4y for ~$8k. But they'd need a trans swap too...
All told, I think it'd be cheaper to find a car of your liking w/ a trashed engine and rebuild it w/ high comp pistons/covert it to CNG. I know in CA that'll get you smog exemption, so it may be on my todo list. The HOV sticker is nice too, but I've noticed the carpool lanes filling up more and more recently. Motorcycle's the way to go in CA traffic imo...

[skewbe]

Originally Posted by cfg83

...Alternative Fuel Station Locator
http://afdcmap2.nrel.gov/locator/FindPane.asp...

That is cool!! I haven't seen that before!!

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Must be that "stable" population...

I'm betting on gas prices, since I hadn't seen much of it when it was ~$1-2/gal.

[Bill in Houston]

I have thought about the GX and Phill, but I'm not buying something with a CVT... If you did the trans swap, that would be cool... A 5 or 6 speed GX that you could refill from a city facility near you would be pretty cool.