Posted on 06/17/2005 9:07:43 PM PDT by neverdem
Last October, New York City officials held a special auction of 27 heavily discounted taxi medallions that could be used only with cabs powered by natural gas or by a combination of gasoline and electricity.
Eighteen of the licenses were sold, at an average price of $222,743, one-third less than the cost of a regular medallion. The Taxi and Limousine Commission praised the program as a first step toward the reduction of harmful emissions.
One problem: The commission never got around to approving any alternative-fuel vehicles for use as taxicabs.
It is now trying to back away from the sale, asserting that there are no gasoline-electric hybrids on the market with enough interior space and legroom for passengers.
After months of talks with the city, the three winning bidders have filed a lawsuit, asking a judge to order the completion of the sale or award damages for breach of contract. The city's Law Department contends that the bidders never had a valid contract.
The three bidders, Russian immigrants, have hired a Washington-based law firm and a former State Assembly speaker, Mel Miller, to plead their case. Environmentalists have accused the commission of backpedaling on its promises. Now local lawmakers are threatening to step in.
At a hearing yesterday, a City Council committee discussed a bill, introduced by Councilman David Yassky, a Brooklyn Democrat, that would force the commission to approve a clean-fuel vehicle within 30 days. The taxi commission's chairman, Matthew W. Daus, told the committee that "the 30-day time frame is neither practical nor legal."
About 93 percent of the taxi fleet consists of Ford Crown Victorias, which use a traditional engine. Ford had been a leader in developing vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, but in January 2004 the company announced it would withdraw from the market.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It's the congestion that drives them all crazy there.
It costs over $600,000 to enter the taxicab market? That sounds insane!
that should be "used" Crown Vic CNG
600,000 dollars is the entry fee for the taxi market ? That's freakin insane. Just roll one cabbie and make a forged medallion for much less. Even if they take the car each time it would cost less to operate in NYC.
Thanks. Never do simple math after midnight. Or before 9am. Or on weekends. Or when the moon is full.
wuhhh boy.
There other states that are more competitive than Florida in regard to comparing other states with NY. Why do you think so many folks move to Florida from NY and not to other liberal havens, which are colored blue, lately?
Part of the problem is limiting options to LNG/CNG. Compressed natural gas has a very limited range. Liquified natural gas would do better, but since LNG tanks are cryogenic, forget about the trunk, it's full of fuel tank.
Propane liquifies by pressure alone, a Victoria could run all day on a tank that would leave luggage space, and can run dual-fuel, propane or gasoline. I know whereof I speak, over twenty years I have done after-market conversions on everything from pickups to floor buffers. If it runs on gasoline, I can make it run on propane. Computerized carburation has bumped the price to about $3,500 per, but one could refuel at the same places that fill grill bottles. Chemically, the difference is an extra carbon atom and emmissions are barely distinguishable. CNG has a better funded lobby.
Thanks. I knew LNG was wrong when I typed it but even as I thought about it nothing else would pop into my mind. I knew someone would catch it. :-) Regardless, just as with any other alternate fuel, even deisel, you have to know where to get fuel rather than just stop at any gas station. Some municipalities mandated CNG for city vehicles but they have a central fueling depot. Propane is probably the best gas choice but still not good, for fueling purposes, at the moment.
As a side benifit could the expanding gas be used for cooling?
Definitely. One of my former competitors made a side income trucking refrigerant grade propane. When R-12/R-22 went away a guy in Florida came up with a perfectly workable auto AC based on a closed propane cycle. It was rule a fire hazard and never went anywhere.
Us good ol' boys in west Texas have used wet lines off the fuel tank to chill hot beer for 50 years. Crack the valve just enough to let liquid out, the liquid is immediately going to its 40 degree below boiling point, takes about a gallon to put flecks of ice in a case of beer. Don't overdo it or you get beercicles. Advice; do this at a safe remove from the communal campfire and gloves are a good idea, this stuff will frostbite your fingers in a half a heartbeat.
It seems the hands on "good'ol'boys" understand this aspect of the technology better than gov. trained book smart techno-mechanic/industro-designers.
Why is that?
bump for later read
It was funny as heck!
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