Anybody have a truck/car on cng?Does it still have good power and torque?Run on cng and gas?Large tanks available?Worth the $$$ cost?

I haven't owned a cng/lng vehicle but I satyed at a Holiday Inn last night.
But, seriously folks....
There's an ex-cop Crown Vic currently on ebay that is a CNG vehicle that I wanted to bid on so i did a lot,(and I do mean A LOT) of research on these cars.
There is way too much info to try to summarize so start Googling, but, in summary, here is what I learned:

1. As an alternative to gasoline, you want LNG (LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS) aka PROPANE, not CNG (COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS). CNG is extremely hard to get. Ford the leading advocate of CNG in fleet vehicles gave up on CNG in 2004.
2. CNG tanks have an expiraton date and have to have periodic inspections. Buy a used CNG vehicle and it may be useless or be useless in the near future because replacing expired tanks costs thousands.
3. You can not operate a CNG vehicle on Propane. Conversion requires a degree in Engineering and Chemistry as I could find no co. out there that will do it.
4. Economics sometimes makes no sense in converting to LNG. Payback would take forever in normal use. Best for high mileage fleets.
5.Be prepared to give up a lot of cargo space.
6. You'll always have fuel for your tailgating BBQ.

I really wanted that CNG cop car but it would have been a really, really big mistake. No wonder the selling price is so cheap.

The miles I put on in a yr, even an LNG vehicle would never pay for itself unless gasoline went to 6 bucks.

Your mileage may vary...

As said above, unless you drive 50,000+ miles a years it is economically not feasible. The home pumping station and the tank are way pricey.

Would you consider it if there is a pumping station three miles from your house?
What about the kit that also allows the vehicle to run on gas?

Thanks for the replies!

I run an `70 Fury Gran Coupe on LPG(Propan/Butan)for 8 years now.
It got an old Impco Ventury system, where you can switch between petrol and LPG.
A little less power and 10-20% less mileage on LPG.
Here in Germany 1 litre petrol is 1,60 Euro cent and 1 litre LPG is only 0,68 Euro cent. Haven`t run it on petrol since
Pros, apart from the price, clean oil, clean valves, clean plugs, nice smell
There is more heat to the exhaust valves, should be considered when you attempt to rev it high for a long period, without hardened seats.

Greets Arnd

I think with CNG, you need a high pressure pump/filling station (3,000+ PSI) to fill the pressure vessel. Propane turns to liquid and fills at much lower pressure, I think around 300 PSI?
Propane is more expensive, about $2.50-$3.50 /gallon depending on where you buy it, but it is pretty easy to find. I don't know of any public CNG filling stations in my area? The Tanks are expensive, and to get any real driving range out of them they need to be pretty large. I have not looked into CNG, so I don't know what price difference there is for the higher pressure tanks?

I am using the Superchips DPI system on my 2005 ram with a Cummins engine. The propane is a suppliment to the Diesel, not a replacement, but it does help with mialage. I usually use slightly less than 1/2 gallon propane to 1 gallon Diesel, and highway mialage unloaded Diesel is about 20 MPG, with the propane is 30 MPG.
Loaded towing my 28' enclosed car trailer diesel mialage is about 12 MPG, with the propane, 20 MPG.

The extra propane is getting about the same MPG as the Diesel (when used together), the savings is in the cost difference, $4.00/gal for diesel, vs, 2.50/gal for propane.

How expensive is the propane kit?

Sorry, did not mean to Hi-jack with the Diesel stuff.
PM was sent.

They already have one LNG station in Wyoming and are in the process of opening ten more. Initially the LNG stations are being utilized by heavy duty fleet vehicles but the state is also converting some of their vehicles to LNG at 10k a pop. The cost right now is $1.29 a gallon equivalent but you do get less HP and fuel mileage. I think it's the coming thing and will be one of many ways of weaning ourselves off of the OPEC teat.

As part of the Democrats's Stimulus plan
LNG refueling stations are being subsidized by US-DOE funds,
and are supposed to eventually be roughly every 300 miles on US Interstates ... well over one thousand LNG stations are supposed to be installed.

The building plan started on the West Coast at the Port of Los Angeles and the 2nd facility was in Las Vegas, and I think the LNG facility in Salt Lake City is now operable.
More will be built heading eastward.
{I guess it is pure coincidence that both the money for LNG and the money for High Speed Train projects start in Pelosi's CA and go to Reid's NV}

UPS is running 59 LNG Kenworth trucks on a CA to NV route

http://www.usgreenchamber.com/news/ups-add-48-more-heavy-duty-lng-tractor-trucks-to-fleet/

It takes approximately 2% of the energy in methane to compress it to 2500 psi for CNG,
and it takes a greater 8% to liquefy methane to LNG.

One advantage of LNG is that it can take un-salable 'low grade' natural gas
(less than 1000 btu/thousand (edit) cubic foot coming out of the well)
that up until now has not been of high enough quality to sell to gas pipelines,
and turn it into a salable 1200 btu/mmcf pure methane in liquid form.

If you are interested in CNG and LNG
this taxpayer paid for National Renewable Energy Laboratory report in pdf format is worth a read:

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/2451.pdf

I have driven thousands of miles in a propane ex cop car. No big deal.

Power drops about 10%.

Natural Gas power drops quite a bit. Plus the fuel range is a little scary.

If it is Propane get just propane; no switching back and forth.

If Natural Gas you'll need to switch back and forth to get you to the next station unless you have a whack of stations in your area.

Wow, interesting reading there.
This caught my attention: To travel the same distance as 1/gallon of Diesel takes 4.15/gallons of CNG
Plus a CNG tank is either 5 times or 9 times heavier (depending on what they say in text or show in a chart?) than a Diesel fuel tank.

BTU/gallon (approx.)
CNG = 23,000 - 34,000
LNG = 75,000
LPG (Propane) = 95,500
Gasoline = 112,000-125,000
Diesel #2 = 138,500

From Wikipedia:
Gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) or gasoline-equivalent gallon (GEG) is the amount of alternative fuel it takes to equal the energy content of one liquid gallon of gasoline. In 1994, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST defined "gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) means 5.660 pounds of natural gas."[1]

If we paid an equivlent for BTU content, with Diesel as the standard at $4/gallon, then this is what the other fuels "should" cost:
CNG (Low) = 0.66 / gallon
CNG (High) = 0.98 / gallon
LNG = 2.17 / gallon
E-85 = 2.74 / gallon
LPG = 2.76 / gallon
Gas (Low) = 3.23 / gallon
Gas (high) = 3.61 / gallon

East of the Mississippi
there is now a LNG refueling station
near I-95 in Bridgeport CN

http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/ne...ssissippi-river

sample quote

Enviro Express Natural Gas, LLC owns and operates the combination LNG and CNG (compressed natural gas) refueling station in
Bridgeport, Connecticut,
adjacent to Interstate 95.
This represents the first time LNG has been sold as a vehicle fuel from Distrigas's Everett Marine Terminal.

"Interest in LNG to power fleet vehicles is increasing significantly as diesel fuel and gasoline prices continue to climb," said Joe Murphy, vice president, Sales and Transportation for Distrigas. "The difference in fuel and maintenance costs and the environmental benefits make LNG an attractive vehicle fuel alternative."

The public-access refueling station presently provides LNG to Enviro Express' new commercial fleet of 18 Kenworth T800 semi tractor-trailers and CNG to fleet customers. Enviro Express is a waste collection and transport company, which uses its fleet to haul ash and other refuse from Bridgeport to Putnam, Connecticut, a 110-mile trip.

Partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the $6.2 million project is part of the larger Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels project.
end quote