CNG
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As a vehicle fuel, natural gas holds considerable promise but faces a number of challenges. Overcoming those challenges is the goal of recent funding granted by the U.S. Department of Energy for a handful of research projects. Among them are the challenges of incorporating high-pressure natural gas storage tanks into vehicle designs. While pickup-truck adaptions customarily put the cylindrical tanks in the front of the bed, or perhaps under the bed between the frame rails, the challenges are much tougher for passenger cars. The 2013 Honda Civic Natural Gas, for instance--the only passenger...
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Natural Gas As Vehicle Fuel: Why Trucks Make More Sense Than Cars
Natural gas passenger cars have never really taken off in the U.S. like some thought they might. While the fuel is hugely popular in countries like Brazil, gasoline has always reigned supreme in North America. Or diesel, if you're a long-haul trucker--though that could be about to change. Natural...
Antony Ingram -
Leaky Natural Gas Wells No Cleaner Than Coal, Says NOAA
Natural gas is increasingly considered a cleaner alternative to coal when it comes to energy production--not to mention a greener alternative to gasoline when used in vehicles like the Honda Civic Natural Gas. However, a new study suggests its green credentials may be damaged by methane...
Antony Ingram -
Chevy, GMC Bi-Fuel Natural Gas Pickup Trucks Now In Production
GM has started production of its two new bi-fuel options in the pickup truck market. The 2013 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 HD bi-fuel models are able to run on either regular gasoline, or compressed natural gas (CNG). A 6.0-liter V-8 as found under the hood of each truck isn't...
Antony Ingram -
Want To Drive A Natural Gas Vehicle? Be Prepared For A Detour
By the end of this year, Honda says it will have more than 200 dealers certified to sell the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas across the U.S. Much cheaper than regular gasoline and cleaner-burning, many states offer incentives to encourage drivers to make the switch to natural gas. But there’s...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
'Strong Case' For Natural-Gas Car Research, National Lab Says
A government-funded laboratory that helped pioneer the battery technology behind many electric vehicles, including the Chevy Volt, has recently begun to focus on developing technologies to improve natural gas-powered vehicles, in anticipation of government and industry soon seeking to bring...
Talking Points Memo -
We missed it last week while we were covering all the new cars at the Geneva Motor Show, but Chrysler has officially stepped forward into the world of natural-gas vehicles. Its Ram truck brand announced that it would offer a bi-fuel version of its 2500 Heavy Duty pickup, to be known as the Ram 2500 HD CNG (for compressed natural gas). The news followed--by one day--a very similar announcement from GM, which said it would sell bi-fuel versions of its 2013 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. Chrysler's differs, however, in that the CNG Ram will be built right in the company's pickup...
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Next Audi A3 To Offer Diesel, Hybrid, CNG Options Globally
Audi's next A3 will offer buyers a wider range of drivetrain options, at least in Europe.
Kurt Ernst -
2013 Chevy, GMC Natural Gas Bi-Fuel Pickup Trucks Announced
General Motors announced today it will offer bi-fuel versions of its 2013 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks that run either on gasoline or natural gas. The two trucks are the 2500 HD (heavy duty) model, and can be ordered in rear-wheel or four-wheel drive and with a standard or long...
John Voelcker -
San Francisco: Twice As Many Taxis Burn Half As Much Gas; Here's How
In the past 15 years, the city of San Francisco has doubled the numbers of taxi cabs on its streets, up from 750 vehicles in 1997 to 1,500 this year. But thanks to incentives designed to get taxi operators behind the wheel of greener cars, 92 percent of San Francisco’s taxi fleet are either...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Jay Leno Shows Stunning Hand-Built Natural-Gas Retro Racer
We may be having a natural-gas moment. Next week, we'll test-drive a 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, the only factory-built passenger car sold to retail buyers that runs on compressed natural gas. We drove its predecessor, the Honda Civic GX, last year. Now noted auto collector and fan Jay Leno (he...
John Voelcker -
Ford Transit Connect Hits NYC And LA Taxi Fleets
The Ford Transit Connect, in both gasoline and CNG versions, has begun deployment for taxi duty from coast to coast.
Kurt Ernst -
Michigan is working to increase the number of publicly-available refueling stations for owners of compressed natural gas vehicles.
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Chrysler To Join Honda In Selling Natural-Gas Cars...In 2017
Ask anyone to name an alternate fuel, and natural gas is rarely the first one that comes to mind. Ethanol, perhaps, and increasingly electricity. But natural gas? Not so much. Yet in other parts of the world, as many as 2 percent of the vehicles on the road are fueled by natural gas, in countries...
John Voelcker -
Redesigned Audi A3 Getting New Sedan Model, Six Different Power Sources
Audi is currently working on a new generation of its A3, a preview of which we got at last month’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Audi A3 Sedan concept. Since then we’ve received these official sketches showing the design of the production version due early next year. While...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 Denver Auto Show: Toyota Displays CNG-Powered and Plug-In Hybrid Concepts
This year’s 2011 Denver Auto Show (DAS) has a lot to offer consumers from demonstrations to manufacturer ride and drives to concept vehicles that will “fuel the future.” Wednesday marked the opening of the largest Denver Auto Show in history at some 500,000 sq. ft and it also...
Jonathan McGrew -
Russian Billionaire Gets Gassy To Go Green: Prokhorov City Car
Russia. Onion domes, remnants of Communism, enormous natural-gas reserves, and a fierce love of Vodka. These elements have now somehow combined to convince Mikhail Prokhorov--reportedly Russia's wealthiest man, new owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, newly-minted publisher of the New...
Nelson Ireson -
Senate Energy Bill: $$$ for Natural-Gas Vehicles, EVs Get Less
If there's even a chance for the U.S. Congress to pass an energy bill this year, it's going to be a long and tortuous slog. But the first cut at legislation, introduced yesterday, offers $4 billion for infrastructure and subsidies for natural-gas vehicles (NGVs), but just a tenth of that for the...
John Voelcker -
Want to save a few dollars or just be a little bit greener with your new commercial van? Now, thanks to GM, you can. The automaker has announced today that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) powered versions of the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans will be offered to fleet and commercial customers beginning this fall. The vans feature specially designed Vortec 6.0-liter V-8 engines that come with hardened exhaust valves and valve seats for improved wear resistance and durability for gaseous fuel systems. Along with dedicated gaseous fuel injection and...
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Volkswagen: Natural Gas Is Just As Good For Racing As Diesel
A couple of months ago, we told you about Volkswagen's 2010 Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition, a specially trimmed version of its clean-diesel Jetta sedan that commemorates the TDI Cup racing series, now in its third season. But VW has other green racing activities elsewhere too. Our sister site Motor...
John Voelcker -
Natural-Gas Honda Civic To Oklahoma As U.S. Lags in NGVs
The U.S. buys more hybrids than any place else in the world except Japan. We have a handful of clean diesels, with sales slowly increasing. But the "other alt-fuel" for automobiles--natural gas--is barely a blip on the U.S. market. Nonetheless, Honda is plugging away (ahem) with its 2010 Honda...
John Voelcker -
Is Toyota Planning To Build a Camry CNG Hybrid?
If you've followed any of the news coming out of the 2009 SEMA Show, the mecca for modified cars, you may have seen that Toyota's display included a modified version of the Camry CNG Hybrid it showed last fall at the Los Angeles Auto Show.The Toyota Surfrider Camry Hybrid CNG, which pairs the...
John Voelcker -
The Few, The Proud...The Green? Marines Clean Up Camp Pendleton Wheels
Every time we make a joke involving the US Marine Corps, first we check it with our friend Cap'n Connors, a former Marine. With multiple deployments under his belt, and much multicolored art under his skin, the cap'n is our source for all things having to do with the most profane of the armed...
John Voelcker