CNG Pickup Trucks Coming Near You !

[timster2]

CNG pick up trucks are nothing new. Chevrolet did it once before several years ago. The were smart and only leased the vehicles, when there were problems they just terminated the leases and recalled all the vehicles. As far as I remember they all went to the crusher. End of project.

I converted vehicles to run on CNG over twenty years ago. Not just one or two but a fleet of about twenty five. It works well but has its limitations. Best use is for heavy duty vehicles that return to home base every day like buses, trash collection trucks, local delivery trucks. Over the road presents problems with trying to find a fuel station. Its getting better but will take time for the infrastructure. Any questions just ask.

 

[crazyal]

CNG has a problem. Unlike propane it can't easily be turned into a liquid so it takes up a lot of room. The Civic GX gets about half the range of a gas powered Civic while the tanks needed for the gas are larger than a gas tank. Plus a gas tank can be shaped to fit into any area CNG tanks are pressure vessels and physics define their shape and weight.

Then you get into the problem of getting the gas. Fracking is hot political subject and moving to a CNG solution would mean more wells. Finally it only make sense if you have a supply of NG at your house, most do not.

 

[Jimbrown]

We went thru that game here in Arizona about ten years ago. There was a special discount program where you could buy CNG trucks at about a 25% discount and then wright off another 50% of the cost as a state tax deduction. It was some sort of conservation program. the state took a big hit on it when they found out 90% of the buyers never bought a gallon of CNG and still burned gas in them. The DOD also bought a bunch of them. The motor pool at FT Huachuca got force issued a bunch of them and of course had no CNG refueling capability.

The only place that I think still uses it is the busses at Tucson Airport and sure that they still do.

 

[jonyyuma]

The trucks were here in 1970 and operated by the Gas company..There were special heads for the engine, but you did not have to run them. I understood the engines LASTED longer and were much cleaner inside. The downside was the mileage and the location of the refill stations. They still sell CNG here, but i don't know the price range..

 

[timster2]

If you are interested here is some real information on alternative fuel vehicles. These are vehicles that go to work every day. http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dsny/downloads/pdf/pubinfo/annual/Hybrid/2010LL38%20Report_2011FINAL.pdf Worth a look. This program started back in 1989 so there is a lot of experience.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I will bet this CNG thing will fall of its own weight. Tanks are too big and heavy, no range, no support infrastructure. I cannot find any info on BTU/$ comparison with gasoline and diesel. Wiling to bet it is like ethanol, takes more energy to produce, compress, and deliver to the end user than the product contains. The compression cost to liquify into LNG would allow the product have a long range, probably exceed gasoline but look at LPG for vehicles; it never caught on and finally died even though it was and still available anywhere.

These things will happen when and if big oil allows it or the GOV forces it down out throat by cutting off gasoline by taxing it out of the market. Guess who really elects those decision makers, follow the money.

Ron

 

[aczlan]

I will bet this CNG thing will fall of its own weight. Tanks are too big and heavy, no range, no support infrastructure. I cannot find any info on BTU/$ comparison with gasoline and diesel. Wiling to bet it is like ethanol, takes more energy to produce, compress, and deliver to the end user than the product contains. The compression cost to liquify into LNG would allow the product have a long range, probably exceed gasoline but look at LPG for vehicles; it never caught on and finally died even though it was and still available anywhere.
These things will happen when and if big oil allows it or the GOV forces it down out throat by cutting off gasoline by taxing it out of the market. Guess who really elects those decision makers, follow the money.

LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) is 75,000 BTU/Gallon per Wikipedia (same as E100). CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is about 900BTU/cubic foot

When I was in Argentina (2004-2006) all of the taxis ran on CNG (interestingly, if they had to refill a CNG vehicle, everyone was required to leave the car).
I talked to them about it and they said several things:
1. It was cheaper (about 3/4 the price of gas for the same amount of BTUs)
2. If it was a conversion, it wore the cylinder walls out faster as CNG runs dryer than Gasoline
3. Less power from the same engine

Many (1/2-2/3?) of the gas stations also had several CNG filling spots at them (with a compressor and a surge tank on site to compress the gas that came out of the NG line)

Aaron Z

 

[JerryK]

CNG pick up trucks are nothing new. Chevrolet did it once before several years ago. The were smart and only leased the vehicles, when there were problems they just terminated the leases and recalled all the vehicles. As far as I remember they all went to the crusher. End of project. .

When I was still working at Pontiac Motors we got that fleet of white GM CNG pickup trucks in. They removed the CNG tanks, and sold the trucks at a discount [holes in bed, etc]. The GM trucks had tanks installed under and INSIDE the beds to try to get enough range to make them practical. The tanks looked like they were made out of fiberglass, but could have just been covered aluminum. Another problem was, you are basically carrying around your own personal fuel air bomb if you get in the right kind of accident....

 

[aczlan]

When I was still working at Pontiac Motors we got that fleet of white GM CNG pickup trucks in. They removed the CNG tanks, and sold the trucks at a discount [holes in bed, etc]. The GM trucks had tanks installed under and INSIDE the beds to try to get enough range to make them practical. The tanks looked like they were made out of fiberglass, but could have just been covered aluminum. Another problem was, you are basically carrying around your own personal fuel air bomb if you get in the right kind of accident....

Thanks in the bed were common in Argentina. You would have a small pickup (rangerish size) with 2 8"x3' tanks in the bed and 1-2 more between the frame rails under the bed.

Some interesting info on testing and cylinder design: http://www.cleanvehicle.org/technology/CNGCylinderDesignandSafety.pdf

Aaron Z

 

[Barnone]

When I was a deputy sheriff in the 1980/90's we had propane powered patrol cars. Down on power and lost a lot of trunk space for the tank. Not good range either plus the cost of conversion new and when the cars were sold.