Dual Fuel Autos

If you are considering buying a CNG car this season, there are definitely a few things that you should consider.  With Gas prices at historic high levels, its no wonder why more and more people are flocking to the CNG car craze.  While high gas prices can be a huge motivating factor for you to start looking into CNG cars, there are a few things that you should know before you impulsively go out and buy one.

Not All CNG Cars Are The Same

A very common misconception that many customers have is that all CNG cars are the same.  The reason people believe this is because most vehicles are the same in that they all have an engine and run off of gas.  The difference with a CNG car is that it can either ONLY run on CNG, or it is a CNG hybrid that has had a kit installed which allows you to flip a switch and run the vehicle off of unleaded gasoline, or CNG(compressed natural gas).  The biggest difference to understand is that cars that only run on CNG are factory made, meaning they came that way out of the factory doors.  These cars usually experience less problems because they were manufactured only to run on the cleaner burning CNG fuel.

CNG cars that have an add-on kit installed are very nice as you can use both fuel types, but because they are an add-on, there is additional risk that things could go wrong or that problems could ensue.  This is very important to understand when looking at CNG cars for purchase as all states will accept a manufactured CNG car to meet their safety and emmissions standards, but hardly any states will approve a CNG add-on kit car.

Image via Wikipedia

Do Your Research

The biggest problem that consumer experience when buying a CNG car is that they can’t get it passed off each year with safety and emmissions, making the car illegal to drive.  Make sure to do your research and find out if your state allows CNG car kits.  If not, you need to buy a manufacturer made CNG car.  Honda is the only known car maker that continues to make CNG vehicles.  All other car makers stopped making CNG cars back in 2004 as the Flex-Fuel vehicles became the new standard to meet the government imposed alternative fuel legislation.  The problem is that Flex-Fuel is completely impractical, so finding a CNG SUV, car, or Van can be tricky as they are much harder to come by these days.

CNG Does Make Your Car Last Longer

CNG cars do last longer than their gasoline counterparts.  The main reason is because CNG burns much cleaner than gasoline.  In fact, most cars that run off of CNG fuel can easily go 500,000 miles to a million miles before the engine gives out.  This is drastically higher than the maximum mileage of a gasoline car, so by having a CNG car, it will definitely pay for itself in savings.

As you can see, there are some factors to consider, so make sure you thing about these things when asking the question “Which CNG car should I buy?”

Are you sick of paying high gas prices?  Who isn’t?  I know it totally infuriates me that the oil companies are charging an astronomical amount these days that the changing of the seasons don’t even seem to make a difference at the pump.

With the occupy wall street movement happening right now, we could probably create an “occupy oil companies” campaign that would also bring some attention to this issue.  While i’m not advocating a public movement, I do however want to voice a very common frustration that there must be a better way to save money and also be able to drive a vehicle.

While the answer to this solution may be compressed natural gas(CNG), there are some hurdles that need to be solved first before people can start saving money.

The first big hurdle is that of CNG accessibility.  With the oil companies grasp on the market, CNG stations are far and in between.  Some states are better than 0thers, such as Utah for example, but the fact is the natural gas stations need to be more prevalent in order to start making a difference.

While CNG cars are a fairly new concept to people, the truth is that they have been a part of our on-road fleets since the 70′s.  Not only have these types of vehicles existed for a while, but here in the USA, all of the natural gas that we use is made right here.

Image via Wikipedia

With Obama’s jobs plan hitting the fan, why not bring jobs back to america by focusing our energy needs on natural gas?  Natural gas wells actually fill back up over time, it is a renewable resource.  Oil is not.  Not only is CNG just seeping out of the ground, it is actually a much cleaner burning fuel, which means that cars can easily go 500,000 miles running on CNG.  This many miles takes a miracle for cars to achieve when running off of gasoline.  The focus needs to be taken off of foreign oil issues, and moved to being able to capture the gas that is just naturally seeping out of the ground all around us.  When this happens, Americans will finally be able to start taking control again of their own economy as it won’t be so dependent on that of a foreign economy.

CNG vehicles are for sale all over the country, but before you buy one, it is a good idea to be able to assess your natural gas station accessibility before taking the plunge.  The only way to get more CNG stations in your area is by contacting your local transportation agency as well as your local government leaders.  The Pickins plan is something that has been trying to do this for years.  The biggest difference is that the Pickens plan is trying to convert America’s fleet of semi’s to run off of natural gas.  This would help out everyone as more stations would definitely be more available.   The convenience of Natural Gas is a no-brainier as you could fill up from home amongst other things.  CNG is real, and it can save you a lot of money, it just needs to be a practical choice for you in your area.  By doing some research, you should be able to determine if owning a CNG car is the right thing to do.

Related articles

• Chesapeake Energy’s McClendon: How America Can Get Its Swagger Back (forbes.com)

With all of the upset going on over in Libya, and the gas prices here in America pushing upwards, there has been a lot of talk lately about CNG cars.  We have put together a list of a few commonly asked questions in order to set the record straight and to give those looking into purchasing a CNG car the information that they need before making that decision.

Do CNG Cars mix CNG with gasoline?

No.  Compressed Natural Gas is it’s own fuel source that can be pumped into the engine.  The engine has the ability to run off of gasoline or natural gas without changing any of the components of the engine.  When a CNG car kit is installed, CNG injectors are added to the engine as well as a switch.  When the switch is activated, the engine will either recieve gasoline, or compressed natural gas, but the engine never receives a mixture of these two fuels.

Do CNG cars last longer than normal cars?

Yes.  If you don’t believe us, contact any airport shuttle service or bus service that has CNG converted vehicles.  CNG cars on average last up to 500,000 thousand miles before the engines start having problems.  By converting your car over to a CNG vehicle with a kit, you will prolong the engine of the vehilce, thus making your vehicle last much longer.  CNG increases the value that you get from the vehicle that you convert as it will definitely pay you back over the long run with a long lasting engine.

How Much Cheaper are CNG cars than regular cars?

Gasoline is on the rise, but the average price for a gallon of CNG is $.74 cents.  That is incredibly cheaper than the price of gasoline.  The important thing to understand is that CNG vehicles usually have smaller gas tanks than a traditional gasoline car.  This means that you will need to fill up more often, but when a car is converted to CNG through the use of a cng car kit, the vehicle can run off of gasoline or CNG at the flip of the switch.  This is the best option as you can never have to worry about running out of gas because the vehicle runs off of either form of fuel.

Are CNG Cars safe?

Many people think that CNG cars are much more dangerous due to their aluminum composite tank that is under pressure.  The scientific evidence proves otherwise.  In fact, CNG cars are much safer than your regular car with a gas tank.  If you don’t believe us, watch this.

Do CNG cars see a huge drop in engine performance?

The answer to this question is that it depends on the CNG kit that you install.  Some kits are better than others, but the high performing kits only see about a 5% decrease in engine power.  This number is so miniscule that you will litereally never notice the difference.

Summary

As you can see, CNG cars are incredible vehicles, and the fact is that any vehicle can be converted into a CNG vehicle.  If your state has a strong CNG infrastructure, you can save some serious money when it comes to low fuel costs.  Not only will you save money, but your vehicle will run much longer, making the vehicle easily pay for itself in the long run.