Efforts of folks like Willie Nelson notwithstanding, the alt-fuel scene used to be pretty uncool. Just picture guys who spend their evenings filtering used grease they get for free from french-fry factories, or travelling salesmen who’ll drive a detour of 20 miles to fill up with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). But the supply of pretty good alt-fuel cars is increasing—at least on the right side of the Atlantic, where VW and Opel have recently introduced sexier Euro-CNG-mobiles. VW is now selling a technologically-interesting Passat version that utilizes both a turbocharger and a compressor.
Using a customization of the lauded, downsized 1.4L TSI engine, the VW Passat EcoFuel sports 150HP, 162 lb·ft of torque, and a seven-gear DSG transmission. Both Spiegel Online and Autobild say it’s a fun drive. So far, so competent, but the killer point may be the EcoFuel’s CO2 rating of only 120g/km, which is outstanding—considerably better than a comparable Diesel (and great in terms of CO2 taxes). Given that, in Europe, CNG costs about half of gasoline, EcoFuel sounds pretty smart. GM’s Opel Zafira Ecoflex has a turbocharger but no compressor, but boasts an overboost rating of 177 lb·ft. No, they are not calling it the Zaft-ira. Would TTAC’s Justin Berkowitz find the EcoFlex version of the Zafira a little less boring? The world holds its breath.
CNG infrastructure would be expensive, and in general there’s shortages of NG in Europe and certainly in NA. We need that gas for other uses.
As our good friend Menno would say, where is the Butanol effort?
Alternate fuel concepts should be renewable/sustainable first before pursuing that rabbit hole, otherwise it’s just exchanging one problem for another.
In Europe, there certainly is no problem with the CNG infrastructure. CNG covers a frighteningly high amount of EU energy use, and pipelines run all the way from the well to the home in Europe. There also is no shortage – unless Russia decides , as it does frequently, to turn off the tap. Europe’s CNG is mostly Russian.
Using CNG in cars is cheaper, because it’s taxed differently. Diesel was also lesser taxed, which turned 50% of Germany’s cars into Diesels. Now the differential is gone, and diesel’s popularity wanes.
Once CNG becomes popular, you can bet that taxes will follow.
The turbo/compressor engine is a joy btw. Fun to drive down the Autobahn at 250 km/h, knowing it’s a small displacement mill.
I’d beg to differ about shortages of NG here in the US and expensive infrastructure. The infrastructure is probably already in your home, and certainly easier than upgrading the electric grid. It’s one of the most abundant, cheapest, and cleanest fuels. If you include Canada, completely domestic as well. Refilled from your house, it costs about $1-1.20 per gallon equivalent. I drive a bi-fuel F150 in Michigan, and can find NGV at most of the local Meijers superstore.
@ Bertel
In Europe, there certainly is no problem with the CNG infrastructure.
So I can pull up to a random Shell service station in Frankfurt and fill my CNG car with compressed NG today????? I don’t think so. That’s the (refilling) infrastructure I was referring to.
@ gsorter
You don’t have the equipment in your home to re-compress NG. That’s not cheap, and it would be expensive to have everyone suddenly buying it for themselves.
According to the DoE, US Natural Gas production dropped by 1% in 2007, while demand climbed more than 3%.
Many US energy companies are in talks to import Australian LNG.
Europe’s NG supplies could hardly be in worse shape as the most recent experience shows them. If they wanted to protect themselves from Russian supply behaviour there are nearly no reserves to tap.
T Boone will be excited to hear this, but CNG is a bitch to store and seems like nothing but a stop gap on the way to fuel source neutral electric battery energy storage. T Boone himself sells it as a stop gap, not a permanent solution.
Using natural gas to power cars is less insane than converting natural gas to hydrogen and then powering cars with hydrogen. But it’s still not the future. The future is LiIon or something better powering series hybrids with very small IC engines. The Volt will be the future, the question is whether GM will be the first to perfect it for mass market.
VW’s 1.4 liter gasoline TSI engine is really amazing (there is no diesel version), hopefully it can come to America soon. It is faster, cheaper and cleaner than the 2.0 TDI VW engine with equivalent carbon output.
@PeteMoran:
Maybe not a random gas station, but many have it and many more are being upgraded.
Unless you live in some rural village, you’ll have no trouble finding one. And even if you don’t have one nearby, you can always go back to regular gas, since CNG cars are usually hybrids.
I live in a rather small town…I can think of 8 gas stations here, 2 of which offer CNG. If I had a CNG car, it would virtually make no difference for me at all, it would be like half a mile further than the one I usually go to, if that.
http://www.erdgasfahrzeuge.de/images/stories/tankstellenkarte/tankstellenkarte.pdf
@ tom
Thanks, it’s better than I thought. Hmmm.
Am I reading that right, there are 6 CNG capable stations in the whole of the Frankfurt area??
With the bigger cities, there wouldn’t have been a point in printing individual circles on there for every gas station, so they put the number of CNG stations in brackets. So in the city of Frankfurt there are 6 of them, the area around it has additional ones, according to the markings.
There are 21 CNG gas stations in the LA area, 18 of which are open to the public:
http://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/stations/califs_laoc.html
Thus very few people would have to go 20 miles out of their way to refuel. Looks like 0-3 miles for someone with a daily commute.
A home fueling station costs about $2000 provided you have a natural gas line at home.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5960905
…the alt-fuel scene used to be pretty uncool. Just picture guys who spend their evenings filtering used grease they get for free from french-fry factories
Hey, I resemble that remark!
–chuck
@ gregw
Thanks, I knew the metro California refilling infrastructure was not bad.
I have a 2006 figure of about US$3400 for such a NG home refiller.
Not to sound like a broken record, but yes, Honda has been doing this for years. And yes, they will sell you your own compressor pump to be installed in your home. And yes, that shill Edmunds.com used to run one in its long term fleet.
Most Tokyo taxis run on gas. Don’t know whether it’s LPG or CNG, but there usually is a honking big tank in the trunk that takes space away we need for our honking big suitcases …
@ PeteMoran: I’m not a big fan of conspiracy theories, but when you ask why not Butanol, try questioning the same people who are profiting from corn-based Ethanol.
@ John Williams
When it comes to energy interests, there are conspiracies where-ever you care to look.
I hope everyone caught Daniel Sperling on The Daily Show last night.
I have said it MANY times in this site, just to be “gotten straight” by the hybrid crowd:
CNG is a powerful alternative, and an option that is steadily growing in use around the world.
See the usage numbers… this time is the third world that is taking the lead :-P
Right now, here in Venezuela, we are going to start selling CNG cars from the dealer in April. The current policy requires 30% of the total sales to be bi-fuel cars. Next year will be 40% and should get to 50% by 2011. In a market of between 200K-400K per year… it makes an interesting volume. Also government gives a FREE conversion to anyone who wants to go CNG.
Bertel: WTF? 250 km/h with a puny 1.4lt engine? Do you have pics of that?, how many HP and RPM does that thing make?
@ Stingray
It’s a good policy for Venezuela. Rather than use exportable oil, use CNG which is much harder to export intercontinentally.
That NG might have a higher return solving this problem however.
Hybrids = viable energy recovery in transport.
CNG = alternative fuel.
In the US, CNG is a non-starter. Big incentives were required just to get the miniscule fleet to where it is today. The infrastructure is insufficient, the supply is inelastic (think Palin and the Alaska gas pipeline to address this), and EPA-certified conversions are freaking expensive. You can’t get a home CNG Phill unit in many states as there just aren’t any local certified installers.
Honda will make about 2000 Civic GX‘s this year at $25k each, and many of those will be going to fleets.
CNG will never be more than a niche. It’s probably fine for fleets – the Post Office, UPS, etc. It might make small inroads in consumer vehicles, but it’s going to be left in the dust by electric in short order.
This is just a good old-fashioned format war. I would argue that the winning fuel will be one that everybody in America has in their house already. That leaves electricity, and water.
Anybody make a car that runs on water?
torn: “…CNG cars are usually hybrids. ”
I do not think that is correct.
“# Bertel Schmitt :
February 11th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
In Europe, there certainly is no problem with the CNG infrastructure. CNG covers a frighteningly high amount of EU energy use, and pipelines run all the way from the well to the home in Europe.”
Very true!
I must point out that the flow of gas into Europe will likely to increase by two-threefold in the not too distant future: there are two giant projects in the works already, Nabucco and South Stream. The first aims to pipe Central Asian resources into Europe through Turkey, Hungary, Austria etc to lower its dependency on Russia while the latter is the Russian counter-effort to defeat the (US-supported, mind you) EU Nabucco-project.
“There also is no shortage – unless Russia decides , as it does frequently, to turn off the tap. Europe’s CNG is mostly Russian.”
I think while it presented a powerful image the latest annual Russian-Ukrainian row did a disservice to their (Russians) self-interests: it just accelerated Nabucco as it secured full EU-backing (see recent Nabucco Summit two weeks ago, held in Budapest: EIB-EBRD financing is ready, EC set aside 250M euros already etc.)
Natural gas is THE future #1 energy resource in Europe, I have no doubts about it.
However it also means it’s imperative to break this vicious bargaining cycle with Russia – it is an unstable, anti-democratic, irrational country, you cannot build your future on a partner like this.
“Using CNG in cars is cheaper, because it’s taxed differently. Diesel was also lesser taxed, which turned 50% of Germany’s cars into Diesels. Now the differential is gone, and diesel’s popularity wanes.”
Yep, that’s exactly what I hate in Europe.D
“Once CNG becomes popular, you can bet that taxes will follow.”
Most likely unless EC will appropriate renewable energy resources to offset the lower taxation.
“The turbo/compressor engine is a joy btw. Fun to drive down the Autobahn at 250 km/h, knowing it’s a small displacement mill.”
Is there any noticable difference? Never drove a NG car…
“…CNG cars are usually hybrids. ”
I do not think that is correct.
I meant hybrids in the sense that they can run on both, CNG as well as gasoline, not in the sense that they have an electric motor. I’m sorry if this wasn’t obvious from the context.
@ k.a.mm
….the flow of gas into Europe will likely to increase by two-threefold in the not too distant future: there are two giant projects in the works already, Nabucco and South Stream.
2x or 3x?? That’s a HUGE increase.
Depending on how you count it, or the countries you include as “Europe”, NG import capacity is about 197 BCM at the beginning of 2008, or about 55% of use is imported.
Both of those pipelines propose to bring about 10 BCM, which is a long long long way short of 2x or 3x.
Consumption is expected to rise by at least 8 BCM before Nabucco completion in 2013 (2014?). Dauletabad (Nabucco source) is likely already in decline and Asia wants access to that NG to.
Some analysis in the trade suggests OECD import demand might climb to over 442 BCM by 2020.