CNG conversions?

[rossvw]

Has anyone here done a CNG conversion or perhaps have any idea when a CNG prius such as

http://www.ngvglobal.com/technology/...cng-prius.html

or similar might be available in Aus?

I like the idea of refueling at home.

[MWP]

Cng?

0987654321

[JetspeedCamry]

^ Compressed Natural Gas

[Pure_In_Sanity]

I dont think it would be easy to refill at home. CNG tank pressures are far higher than LPG systems. Not sure if there are any vehicles converted here yet, except for forklifts and other commercial equipment.

[MRMOPARMAN]

ive heard of some taxi's running CNG as an experiment. never got to see the results though.

talk to someone in thetaxi industry, they might be able to point you in the right direction

[mrshin]

It is doable, however the refuelling system costs a fair bit, and refuelling times are very slow compared to low pressure fuels. It's generally practical for daytime fleet vehicles, such as buses and delivery vans.

[rossvw]

yeah, theres a machine called the phill

(http://www.myphill.com)

the page also mentions a CNG Honda Civic available in the US

I just thought maybe you could fit a different tank to a car already converted to LPG

[mtp_69_i]

some TransAdelaide buses are running it here in SA

[rj_darlow]

There's a servo in Fyshwick (ACT) that has CNG. Thoughts on maintaining a high enough pressure in a tank in a car included a balloon type thing inside the tank that gets blown up when there isn't as much gas left. Kinda like making the gas tank smaller, so the pressure is maintained. This is just a thought though, no idea if it would actually work.

You can bump up the gas pressure out of your meter at home, but it's not much, and wouldn't help with re-fueling. It does give you cheaper gas, though...

Cheers,
Richard

[Hiro]

A lot of the newer buses in Sydney run CNG, but I'm surprised at how slow take-up of the technology has been, I remember reading about the 4-door Charger concept car a few years ago that ran a supercharged CNG engine, and basically nothing has come of it.

[JetspeedCamry]

In the US, Toyota brought out Gen 4 Camry's (97-2002 series) in CNG format. Used the 5S-NFE engine.

[mrshin]

There's nothing new about CNG. The problems are the refuelling, the weight of the tanks, and the relative low density of the fuel meaning you need a fair bit of it to be usefel. Rather irrelevant, but kind on think of LPG being to petrol, what CNG is to methanol - both in density difference, and octane rating.