People have been talking about hybrid cars for quite a while now. Admittedly, it has already created a splash and I can’t blame them. Hybrid cars are considered the most popular green cars these days and when giant auto makers jump into the bandwagon, everything gets really spiced up.
However, not everything green must have something to do with hybrid cars. CNG cars for instance have already been getting so much attention these days, although the US has not yet caught up with the frenzy just yet.
Basically, natural gas or more properly Compressed Natural Gas is a cleaner alternative than gasoline. Despite of that, only eight million NGVs or Natural Gas Vehicles are operational in the United States right now. Its rather humdrum popularity can be attributed to the tons of certification that one needs to have in order to own an NGV.
On the other hand, Honda remains to be the only one that sells a full-blown NGV and that’s the Honda GX. However, converting the vehicle’s engine to CNG is still the route chosen by those who are into CNG. Unfortunately, there are so many paper-pushing procedures that need to be done in the US. The truth is, as much as 200,000 USD has to be spent in order to make the entire conversion process legal.
Meanwhile, before you convert your vehicle to CNG, you should make sure that there are enough refueling stations available to your area. Right now, there are 800 refueling stations that can be found in the US, which isn’t really enough if this industry wants be part of the mainstream consciousness. The bad side is, these stations are far from each other, so refueling would not be a viable option for you at the moment.
The good news is, there are more and more people who are installing their very own CNG refueling station at home. So instead of looking for a refueling a station, owning a mini station is what people have done.Instead of storing CNG, you can get a device that just compresses the gas from a household supply. The best part is, you can refuel at your own comfort and at your own pace, although it usually takes overnight in order to fill up a gas tank.
On a different note, the cost of a CNG is from 12500-25000 USD and that still depends on the size of the vehicle and of course of the engine. That may seem a bit pricey, but overall, you can get your money back after a few years of using it. The advantage really shows though if you’re planning to own a taxi or any other public means of transportation. That’s because you drive it over many miles each day, but you don’t have to spend as much for gas.
If you think that the price range is a bit expensive for the conversion, purchasing a used NGV is another alternative. The downside though is that there are very few second-hand NGVs out there. Once you get one though, just make sure that you’ll be able to properly maintain it, because there’s a good chance that there is a lot of mileage from its engine once it reaches you.
Related posts:
- The Things You Need To Know About Natural Gas Vehicles
- The Toyota Yaris Tailback Now Runs on Compressed Natural Gas
- Five Things That You Should Know About Hydrogen Cars
- The PGO Cévennes Turbo-CNG roadster: A Roadster That Runs on Gas
- So Let’s Talk MTBE
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
