CNG cars are not as common in the US as south America

[dnix71]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas

Why? The city I live in uses it for fleet vehicles. Is it just the price difference between oil and gas is greater in most places? Converting isn't hard to do.

I don't drive much, but I have piped in CNG for cooking and hot water. I wouldn't need a filling station if I could hook up at home. If there was someway to splice into a fuel line and mix it with gasoline the car's computer wouldn't care. You would need a one-way valve to prevent it from going back into the gas tank and an electric solenoid regulator on the tank so you wouldn't have to open and close the tank valve each time you start and stop the engine.

[Bruce S]

Dnix71;
  You probably already know that it is not that simple :-)
CNG is at a high pressure ~3600 psi?
The engine itself would be a few minor add-ons but it could work.
I do agree there's a ton of ways this can be used.
 Pretty sure most of the stuff that would work on a car for propane would work for CNG.

Dual-fuel setups would certainly allow both gasoline and CNG , and one neat thing is that NG can be a renewable fuel since it can be made from you now what 

Cheers;
Bruce S

[zap]

The high pressure involved, a home system is slow and expensive, and the vehicle range is less.  I think the Phill only puts out a half a gallon an hour?
All of that usually kills the deal.

[divemaster1963]

We have several in thte city I work for. the older models had several problems. the newer ones combine cng and gas. to power police cars. one problem is that when temps go below 40 f cars are hard to start. also if the Drivers are not smart they can have a problem.  :oOne police car in ga. usa caught fire and blew up when a officer was lighting a cig will driving. had to jump will moving.

[Bruce S]

We have several in the city I work for. the older models had several problems. the newer ones combine cng and gas. to power police cars. one problem is that when temps go below 40 f cars are hard to start. also if the Drivers are not smart they can have a problem.  One police car in ga. usa caught fire and blew up when a officer was lighting a cig will driving. had to jump will moving.

Dive:
 had that happened to me I would've gone back and punched the maintenance guy(s).
These are supposed to be sealed with every precaution that you would use to hook up Nat'l gas in your home and then some. IF lighting a cig caught it on fire , then there was surely a leak and finding those are just as easy.
We used to add propane to single barrel carb'd trucks down home all the time and using soapy water was one of the easiest ways to find leaks.
The doubled flared connections took a special flaring tool but was pretty easy to use.

Would be interesting to find what problems they're having. Once installed other than routine maintenance these just run. A little bit of a hit on acceleration, but oil at least on Propane was always clean even past 6000 miles. 
We used de-bounced solenoids to turn one off and the other on along with using electric gasoline fuels pumps rather than the mechanical ones.

Cheers;
 Bruce S
 

     

[divemaster1963]

[Dive:
 had that happened to me I would've gone back and punched the maintenance guy(s).
These are supposed to be sealed with every precaution that you would use to hook up Nat'l gas in your home and then some. IF lighting a cig caught it on fire , then there was surely a leak and finding those are just as easy.
We used to add propane to single barrel carb'd trucks down home all the time and using soapy water was one of the easiest ways to find leaks.
The doubled flared connections took a special flaring tool but was pretty easy to use.

Would be interesting to find what problems they're having. Once installed other than routine maintenance these just run. A little bit of a hit on acceleration, but oil at least on Propane was always clean even past 6000 miles. 
We used de-bounced solenoids to turn one off and the other on along with using electric gasoline fuels pumps rather than the mechanical ones.

Cheers;
 Bruce S
 

     
[/quote]
the one that caught fire was in north GA. you would have thought that the officer would have smelled the leak for some time. they are investigating  it still. the old ones we had in our fleet were first gen. the newer ones use a different fuel rail plus the gas rail so to make a duel fuel system. the car starts with gas and as soon as the CNG system warms ( about 1-2 mins.) it converts to CNG. this made for a more reliable system plus added economy of fuel. less residual oil from the CNG. All our units get serviced every 3000. oil can still look clean but the oil may still have broken down . with petrol cars exceeding speeds and rough driving . we can't take the chance. got to keep them running 24-7.

john

[Bruce S]

 
the one that caught fire was in north GA. you would have thought that the officer would have smelled the leak for some time. they are investigating  it still. the old ones we had in our fleet were first gen. the newer ones use a different fuel rail plus the gas rail so to make a duel fuel system. the car starts with gas and as soon as the CNG system warms ( about 1-2 mins.) it converts to CNG. this made for a more reliable system plus added economy of fuel. less residual oil from the CNG. All our units get serviced every 3000. oil can still look clean but the oil may still have broken down . with petrol cars exceeding speeds and rough driving . we can't take the chance. got to keep them running 24-7.

john

I totally agree. The stuff they put in the vapor fuels (rotten egg distillate  ) should've had him getting out quick.
The 24/7 is for sure, gone are the days when people can ALL sleep at night.
Best of Luck
Bruce S