CNG prep kit option on new Fords

[JuiceTheGator]

Was talking to a friend of mine tonight who manages the Ford dealership. He was saying the mostly commerical Ford Transit van for 2013 has a CNG kit option for only 350 bucks. It doesn't make it CNG ready...but almost I guess?? They plan to make it available on more non-high performance models for 2014

Does this mean it's coming?

Alternative-fuel prep package facilitates upfitted conversion for use with compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied propane gas (LPG)

All about it: http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/promotions/Alt_Fuel_Guide_Final_km.pdf

 

[fordman84]

I'd be all for more CNG vehicles. Hell, if they would give a $3500 federal tax credit, that would cover the cost of the compressor you would need in order to fill up at home. I'd do that in a HEARTBEAT.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

I'd be all for more CNG vehicles. Hell, if they would give a $3500 federal tax credit, that would cover the cost of the compressor you would need in order to fill up at home. I'd do that in a HEARTBEAT.

I bet that'll come when they feel the fucking retarded disaster of the Chevy Volt has been sufficiently forgotten. They don't want to sell CNG until the subsidized hybrid jokes get sold out.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

I don't get why it costs so much...according to estimates I read. A few hundred for the kit and a few hundred more for tanks and a couple thousand for the compressor in the garage. What else could there be??

Can You Convert to Natural Gas? | GreenCar.com

 

[NativeWebfoot]

I used to drive for SuperShuttle in the '90s and at that time, the fleet was Dodge vans. During that time, they experimented with CNG. The tanks required were very large, taking up a lot of the luggage space and underneath reducing ground clearance. At first, they could run on either reg gas or CNG but were seriously under-powered on CNG because it takes much higher engine compression to run on CNG effectively. Dodge provided CNG dedicated vans that ran great and used less space by not having a separate tank for reg gas but there were very few CNG stations for refueling. You don't want to run out of CNG just anywhere. There needs to be more refueling stations around. MPG wasn't much different but it is a much cleaner fuel, environmentally. Dodge quit providing CNG powered vans while Ford started supplying them, so all the SuperShuttle fleet switched to Ford for that reason. The reason the fleet had been Dodges was because after going Chevy, then Ford, they found the Dodges were the most dependable.