I still think compressed natural gas is going to be it

[JuiceTheGator]

Y'all know I think Tesla has done one helluva' job. They make great cars but the range will always have limits and there are some other problems too. So, WTF is taking our cleanest and most plentiful resource from catching on?

Supposedly, the first CNG trucks will start working in January. Once they're running on CNG they'll all have to run on CNG because of the competition from cheaper costs. Electric cars were a nice distraction, but the answer was always right there. For some reason, our gov't and big energy firms delayed the obvious for a decade.

America's Fuel of the Future Is Here

On the other hand, one company has already built the highway of the future. Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE ) expects to have 150 natural gas refueling stations open by the end of the year as part of its plan to build America's Natural Gas Highway. These stations would refuel a truck in the same amount of time as conventional gasoline. So when compared with Tesla, which currently has only about two dozen Supercharger stations open, natural gas is faster and more readily available.

In addition, natural gas has two critical advantages over electric. First, it's cheap. Even spending the $10,000 to get the next-generation Ford (NYSE: F ) F-150 equipped for natural gas, consumers who drive 1,000 miles per month would enjoy a five-year return on that investment of 98% at current prices, thanks to a $2.17-gallon-of -gasoline equivalent savings enjoyed by switching to natural gas.

The other clear advantage to natural gas is that it's powerful. The battery power necessary to power a Ford F-150, let alone an 18-wheeler, would be astronomically expensive and take up important towing space. On the other hand, towing and hauling ratings aren't reduced when a truck is powered by natural gas.

The final consideration is the sheer abundance of natural gas. We have an estimated 100-year supply, though more of it is being found each and every day

 

[mrwallace2ku]

A job I had traveling around the country hauling the tools we needed on the job and the truck was a propane converted engine. That was back in the early 90's and the bitch was finding the propane for re-fueling. That and the fact that the 2 tanks had to be "balanced" at all times. We ran out of propane in Phoenix AR once and because the tanks we not balanced at the time, just switching over to the other "full" tank did not work. We sat on the hwy for like 2 hours in rush hour traffic waiting for that fucking truck to start. I'm not even sure what the hell we did to get it going, but it finally started and we were on our way.

Propane is expensive now, how bout hydrogen? To voliotle?

 

[outofyourmind]

CNG is the obvious choice.
It's clean enough for now. It's plentiful in the U.S., and it doesn't take many changes to make it run on existing vehicles.

We just need to improve fueling stations.
One on every corner sort of thing.

 

[whyoh]

makes total sense if we can cut through all of the bullshit and propaganda about fracking

 

[outofyourmind]

And we have just been burning that shit off for a hundred years.
[YOUTUBE]5ISrQ_sx2-U[/YOUTUBE]

 

[JuiceTheGator]

It's just so weird how the whole thing went down - still blows my mind. They keep saying building a CNG infrastructure will cost so much and take time. Meanwhile, every little crap apartment in half the towns in America have a natural gas line running right to the stove and water heater. It's all gotta be total bullshit.

The power plant down here finally switched to gas from oil about 7 years ago. They ran a line down from Tampa, 100 miles north, right along I-75 to the plant in just a few months. So, how long do you think it would take to put a CNG pump at each station along that highway? About an hour??

 

[whyoh]

It's just so weird how the whole thing went down - still blows my mind. They keep saying building a CNG infrastructure will cost so much and take time. Meanwhile, every little crap apartment in half the towns in America have a natural gas line running right to the stove and water heater. It's all gotta be total bullshit.

The power plant down here finally switched to gas from oil about 7 years ago. They ran a line down from Tampa, 100 miles north, right along I-75 to the plant in just a few months. So, how long do you think it would take to put a CNG pump at each station along that highway? About an hour??

what someone needs to do is develop a small pump rated for home installation so i can just fill up in my garage right off of my metered gas line i already have

 

[outofyourmind]

what someone needs to do is develop a small pump rated for home installation so i can just fill up in my garage right off of my metered gas line i already have

Wait, What?
That's crazy talk.

How can the government put their hands on it and fuck it up if we did something like that.

 

[fordman84]

what someone needs to do is develop a small pump rated for home installation so i can just fill up in my garage right off of my metered gas line i already have

CNG has been what I've said is the answer all along. The infrastructre is already in place. Every new home and business, at least around here, is set up on a natural gas line. A couple of years ago a compressor for your garage was about $3k to compress the natty gas into a form useable by cars. The price probably has come down already.


Current gas stations would need to up the size of the incoming line, but they could set up a couple of pumps right now and almost every gas station would be able to supply future cars.

CNG is for sure the way to go.

Here is a good link to the tech
http://www.cngnow.com/vehicles/refueling/Pages/refueling-at-home.aspx

 

[JuiceTheGator]

The home compressors are stupid expensive IMO. Of course, 100 uses and you've broken even. But still there's no reason for such expense! It's just a spark-proof compressor.

Phill BY Fuelmaker CNG Compressor Refueling Station FOR THE Home NEW | eBay

 

[whyoh]

Gasfill - CNG refuelling at home

 

[whyoh]

The home compressors are stupid expensive IMO. Of course, 100 uses and you've broken even. But still there's no reason for such expense! It's just a spark-proof compressor.

Phill BY Fuelmaker CNG Compressor Refueling Station FOR THE Home NEW | eBay

'Phill' Natural Gas Fueling Station Maker Goes Bankrupt

 

[fordman84]

I think there are rebates that go into the thousands for installing and retrofitting a vehicle to CNG

 

[JuiceTheGator]

'Phill' Natural Gas Fueling Station Maker Goes Bankrupt

Huh...didn't realize that they were toast or that the company was owned by Honda. Kudos to Honda for trying to make sense. The cars that run on CNG and/or gasoline have gotta be the easy answer.

Sad...:

The CNG version of Honda's Civic GX drove very much like a regular GX, even though it was down 31 hp compared to the gas-powered model. It also had a restricted range of about 175 miles on a tank, though it could be fueled overnight from any home's natural gas system using Phill. The Civic GX is also one of the only cars sold in the U.S. that's certified PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle); it essentially emits water vapor and little else."