(PopSci.com) -- Behold the car that could displace the Toyota Prius as the eco-ride of choice. Will Honda's natural-gas-powered Civic GX blow other "green" cars off the road? The new natural-gas-powered Honda Civic GX uses domestically produced fuel -- the same stuff your gas stove burns -- that costs as little as one third the price of gasoline. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy calls it the cleanest-burning internal-combustion vehicle on Earth. So what's not to like? Only the scarcity of places to fuel up. Honda has sold compressed-natural-gas (CNG) Civics to fleet operators for eight years -- because they have their own CNG pumps, they don't have to search for the rare public ones. But thanks to a new home fueling station, anyone can fill up in their driveway. The car drives like any other, and no, it's not a rolling bomb -- CNG is actually less volatile than gas. Beyond its supply lines and fuel tank, the only difference between it and a regular Civic is a specialized fuel injector. Well, that and its gas bill......... More... Probably not news but it's an interesting article..... I imagine natural gas cost would triple if this became mainstream...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBrian @ Jul 10 2007, 09:35 PM) [snapback]476557[/snapback]</div> Not only that, but natural gas is as limited as oil and will peak soon too. A Natural Gas car is not the answer. Run it on methane from cow burps and farts and then you might have something.
Yeah, I was thinking as I was reading that, "great. another natural fuel source for mankind to deplete." As long as we continue to base our economy on non-renewable resources we're simply postponing the inevitable. Now, take that natural resource and marry it to a hybrid propulsion system and you can stretch it out much farther. Still a non-renewable resource but we're using much much less of it.
So long as people keep insisting on getting the same performance they get from their ICE-powered cars, we will see manufacturers continue to research non-renewable fuels. I would love to see a solar-powered car. Here in AZ we get sun probably 360 days per year. But right now, the technology isn't there. Why not? Maybe they can only make a car that goes 40mph on solar. Or maybe it only has an 80 mile range. Whatever...people would rather not slow down, and they would convince themselves that 80 miles isn't far enough for their needs.
I briefly considered a CNG car when I was shopping for my Prius and determined that it is not a big winner from a lot of perspectives. About the best thing you can say for it compared to close alternatives is that natural gas is cheap right now, and available right now. Looking at the EPA fueleconomy.gov site, and comparing the Regular Civic, Civic CNG, and Civic Hybrid (all 2007), the numbers look like this: MPG 29, 28, 42 Annual fuel cost $1532, $776, $1057 Tons C02 6.3, 5.4, 4.4 Air pollution score, 6, 9, 9 The way I read that, the only advantage of the civic CNG over (say) the HCH is that natural gas is cheap at current prices. But in another thread here, somebody mentioned that the home filling device costs about $5K with installation, and needs expensive servicing every five years. The upshot is that if you plan to fill at home, your average fuel cost probably works out to be higher than the straight civic and certainly higher than the HCH. So, for the home user planning to fill at home, there seems to be no advantage relative to the HCH, and only modest advantages relative to a straight gas Civic. Plus, for what it's worth, I can't believe natural gas prices are going to stay as low as they curently are. If you look at official projections, we're running out of natural gas in the lower 48 states and the stability of the market in the next two decades depends on a large increase in liquified natural gas imports and new pipelines from the Arctic (both Alaska and Canada). That doesn't say "cheap" to me.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pyccku @ Jul 11 2007, 08:51 AM) [snapback]476730[/snapback]</div> The other five days a year it's where we live. :angry: Tom
One small advantage of a CNG car over a new hybrid right now in CA is that you can still obtain HOV stickers for them.
I think a subtle realignment of our "needs" would help a lot, as was pointed out above. I wonder if he concept of limits is in opposition to the current flavor of the American Dream, though...?
