Natural Gas-Powered Cars

Natural gas powered vehicles or NGVs have been around since the 1930, but are being used more lately as an alternative fuel as people are looking for solutions to current pollution problems. One of the key benefits behind NGV’s are that they are very low in ozone reactivity. Almost any vehicle that runs on gasoline can run on natural gas. NGV’s range from passenger cars and trucks to buses.

There are to forms of natural gas that are used as a fuel for vehicles, the first is compressed natural gas, known as CNG, that is compressed to 2,400-3,600 pounds per sq. inch and stored in heavy steel constructed cylinders. The second form is liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, which is gas that is cooled to –259 degrees F. Natural gas comes from underground reserves made up mostly of methane.

Pro’s

Con’s

It cost between $2,700 and $5,000 to convert a vehicle to natural gas, but from the manufacture NGV cost $3,500 to $7,500 more than a conventional gasoline vehicle. The additional costs can be partially subsidized by the government who is providing incentives to promote cleaner burning fuels. Another incentive is the low cost of natural gas.

There are two types of filling methods used: a slow one that takes 6-8 hours and a fast method that takes 6-9 minutes. The slow method can been done overnight by hooking up to a household natural gas system. The fast method requires the use of compressing the gas into storage tanks before being pumped into your car.

The following charts come from two tests conducted, one compared a natural gas power 1998 Honda Civic to the same car model but gasoline powered. The same test was done to campare two 1999 Ford F250 pickups. The test compared the two vehicles in many areas to show that NGV’s are very similar to gasoline powered vehicles.