Natural Gas Cars?

[Furball]

http://www.myphill.com/index.htm

I've been looking into purchasing a Natural Gas Car. I think it is a great idea and not because I'm your typical Portland Tree Hugger. I'm tired of supporting Middle Eastern countries that hate the United States. By using domestic Natural Gas, you are supporting domestic companies. You can also fill up your car at home and not support the big Oil Companies. Seems like a great idea for Liberals and Conservatives alike. Honda sells a NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle) in the form of a Civic. A little smaller than my Expedition, but I had a Civic when I was younger and loved it. The cost is about $24,000 for the car and $3500 for the Phill unit for your house. But you do qualify for a $1500 tax credit for the Phill unit. Any one else think this is a good idea? And yes, I am a T. Boone Pickens Plan supporter!

 

[julius]

I'd like to, someday, own an older Chevrolet or GMC truck (60-66) and convert it to a NGV. I dont know if it's possible, but I like the idea.

 

[Haakzilla]

...veggie oil is the way to go!!!

 

[crowTrobot]

obviously until the NG infrastructure is expanded you'd be restricting your travel flexibility. if you never go anywhere far that's no big, but it would be for me.

i think for now at least a next generation hybrid (like honda's 19k, 40+ MPG insight that will be out in a few months) would make enough of a statement against middle east oil dependence without the extra hassle.

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

Natural Gas would be great i just would never want to get in a crash in a natural gas car. You wouldn't have time to escape would you?

 

[hasoos]

Natural Gas would be great i just would never want to get in a crash in a natural gas car. You wouldn't have time to escape would you?

They have cells to store it in now which won't blow up. Think of it this way. If you had a "sponge" with all the pockets filled with natural gas, Even if it gets lit on fire, it will burn slowly, safely, not blow up. The individual compartments of gas are small, and don't have a lot of oxygen to burn, so they don't blow up.

 

[mook]

obviously until the NG infrastructure is expanded you'd be restricting your travel flexibility. if you never go anywhere far that's no big, but it would be for me.

Isn't most of the natural gas infrastructure we need already built? I mean, it's powering my furnace right now. There have to be thousands of gas stations all over the country heated by natural gas (at least in northern states). Those stations don't have any way to fill up a vehicle right now, but it's not like hydrogen where you have no infrastructure at all. You need a big tank and a pump. It's not that big of a deal, is it?

The Feds could issue a tax credit to gas stations that install a single NG hookup, just to spur adoption.

I know natural gas is pretty popular in Utah cars:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/08/27/natural-gas-fueled-cars-proving-popular-in-utah/

Anyway, not much is going to happen while gas is under $2/gallon.

 

[Furball]

I'm pretty sure that Israel is going to act on Iran in the next 6 months. They have to. At that time, Iran has stated that they will blockade the Suez Canal. That will send Oil prices over $100.00 a barrel and shot Gas Prices up to around $3.50. This 1.99 a gallon is not going to last.

And your right. Any home with natural gas can have one of the Phill stations installed in their home. You can get about 225 Miles to a tank of NG. It's great for in the city driving. You basically just fill your tank over night. Natural gas will be cheaper over the long run because, supposedly, we have an infinite supply.

 

[barfo]

Natural gas will be cheaper over the long run because, supposedly, we have an infinite supply.

The supply is far from infinite. In fact the same arguments apply as for oil - if we haven't already reached peak production levels, we will shortly.

The only advantage is that more of the world's supply is in the US, compared to oil.

barfo

 

[Blaze01]

The only advantage is that more of the world's supply is in the US, compared to oil.

Which seems like a very good advantage for the US, don't you think?

It is not the be all, end all to solving our energy problems, but it is certainly a step in the right direction IMO, and would be a lot easier and less costly to implement than some of the other energy sources out there...currently......

at minimum...it could be used to bridge the gap to the next technology, no?

 

[hasoos]

I'm pretty sure that Israel is going to act on Iran in the next 6 months. They have to. At that time, Iran has stated that they will blockade the Suez Canal. That will send Oil prices over $100.00 a barrel and shot Gas Prices up to around $3.50. This 1.99 a gallon is not going to last.

And your right. Any home with natural gas can have one of the Phill stations installed in their home. You can get about 225 Miles to a tank of NG. It's great for in the city driving. You basically just fill your tank over night. Natural gas will be cheaper over the long run because, supposedly, we have an infinite supply.

Yes, I am sure the whole Iranian navy will blockade it for a whole 30 minutes before their whole navy is destroyed.