We’ve got lots of amazing people in the great state of Oklahoma, and I met another one today who drives a fantastic car. If you were reading my blog back in November, you probably recall my post “The Mac Jedi’s Homebrew Mobile Commander” and podcast “Pimp My Ride (digitally) Southeast Oklahoma Style (An Interview with Lance Ford: Mac Jedi.)” Today’s automotive-inspired interview with an Oklahoman was with Dr. Peter Sherwood of Oklahoma State University, who showed and explained about his compressed natural gas (CNG) Chevy Cavalier following our education committee meeting for the Oklahoma Creativity Project. This small logo on the back right bumper means his car is CNG powered and therefore MUCH more affordable to operate as well as environmentally friendly.
From a distance, the car looks like a “normal” Cavalier.
Under the hood, however, the differences are quickly evident. CNG burns much cleaner than gasoline, so there are not buildups of “gunk” on the engine like you see on vehicles which are purely powered by gasoline.
Underneath the back left taillight, a door can be opened permitting the natural gas tank to be refilled.
The CNG tank is in the trunk, and fills most of it up.
This is the view of the natural gas tank from the back seat, which holds six gallons.
Dr. Sherwood pays now $1.19 per gallon for compressed natural gas, and the car gets about 30 miles to the gallon. So he can go about 150 miles on a full tank of CNG. The car ALSO has a fifteen gallon gasoline tank, however, and automatically switches between the two fuels as needed.
Natural-gas vehicles typically cost about $4000 to $5000 more than gasoline-powered models. Gasoline-powered vehicles also can be retrofitted at a cost of $2000 to $6000.
Before today, I had never heard of a dual-fuel vehicle that could use both gasoline and CNG. I saw a television program about Brazil’s cars which are required by federal law to be capable of using both ethanol and gasoline, but had just assumed that CNG cars would not run anything else. I’m glad to learn I was wrong!
To learn more about CNG cars, check out the WikiPedia article for “Natural gas vehicle” as well as the website CNGchat.com We have an old (1993) Toyota Camry that has a shot engine not worth repairing. If it is possible to put a rebuilt/reconditioned engine in it that would burn both CNG and gasoline for a few thousand dollars, I’d LOVE to do it. It does not seem practical to have a car today which is ALL electric or ONLY powered by CNG, since long road trips could be delayed or cut short if the batteries get drained or a CNG refueling station isn’t handy. That would not be the case if the car could alternatively use gasoline if needed, however.
I learned about the Pickens’ Plan several weeks ago, which seeks to shift our fuel consumption from predominantly foreign-purchased oil to North American purchased natural gas. (The WikiPedia article for the plan is also worth checking out, btw.) It seems silly that we don’t have TONS of cars like Dr. Sherwood’s CNG and gasoline powered Cavalier on the roads today!
We need to make some MAJOR changes in the ways we use energy in our nation, and I agree with those who support a short term shift to natural gas. Ultimately, I agree with Dr. Sherwood that hydrogen power offers an even better solution for automotive energy needs. Perhaps as he suggested today, wind power can make the electrolysis of water required to separate hydrogen from oxygen so it can be used as an energy source more affordable and practical on a large scale.
Dr. Sherwood gave me permission to record an interview of him discussing his CNG powered vehicle, and I’ll publish that here shortly. It was a bit windy outside when we did the interview, so hopefully it will turn out ok.
I think this car is so cool! I want one, but I also want the price of new CNG cars as well as “retrofit” costs to be much less!
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Comments
2 responses to “The practical car of the future today: Natural gas AND gasoline powered!”
You might also be interested in Dr. Bob Zubrin’s perspective. He proposed mandating all cars sold in the US be flex-fueled.
He says this would promote methanol production from agricultural waste products, grass clippings, switch grass, etc… (He’s not big on ethanol from food crops)
http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2008/01/interview-bob-zubrin-on-alternative.html
I had not seen a CNG vehicle before 1999. Once I made it to Argentina, I saw plenty. I rode in plenty of ’em. The CNG pump is just another set of pumps at the service station – where they still provide full service. The future for us, maybe.