Posted on 10/17/2013 6:06:17 AM PDT by thackney
Capitalizing on America’s abundant supply of clean-burning, low-cost natural gas, General Motors said Wednesday it will build a Chevrolet Impala sedan that can operate on either gasoline or compressed natural gas and travel up to 500 miles between fill-ups.
The bi-fuel Impala, which goes on sale summer as a 2015 model, could be the start of something big. Honda Motor has been selling a natural gas-powered Civic since 2011 and while still modest, sales have been steadily rising. The Japanese carmaker is on track to sell about 2,500 CNG Civics this year, up from 1,900 in 2012 and 1,200 the year before. In July, Ford Motor said its most popular vehicle, the F-150 pickup, will be offered with a compressed natural gas engine starting in the 2014 model year.
“Natural gas will grow increasingly attractive as an alternative fuel source, as we’ve seen each year with natural gas Honda Civic sales, particularly in areas like California where HOV lane access is available,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “The lack of infrastructure remains a hurdle, but if more automakers begin to offer CNG-powered vehicles, we could see a greater push for access to CNG in the years to come.”
The Impala’s bi-fuel powertrain is engineered to switch seamlessly from CNG to gasoline, which should reassure consumers worried about finding a place to refuel. For business fleet customers, whose drivers return to a central location, CNG refueling shouldn’t be a problem. GM did not announce the new car’s price, which is likely to be higher than the standard gas model, but savings at the pump could offset that extra payout quickly.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Are you familiar with the ideal gas equation?
pV = nRT
The energy requirements for a sufficiently higher pressure are essential unchanged if you move a sufficiently lower volume.
no....Boyles Law [sic] is the only one I remember these days....ha
No I was about 12 and just play-doh’ed the valve to head clearance and milled it with wet sand-paper on top of a saw bed (I assumed it to be flat.)
I didn’t know about or understand the differences in metal expansion rates or valve float. I might even have spun it over 3600 rpm...
Great job! Back in the early 60s when I was a teen I hung out at a gas station where the owner had a Ford flathead stock car he raced.
They got some good power, but there were ongoing problems with cracking the block between the valves and cylinder bore.
I learned a lot about mechanics from those guys, the good old days.
Great job! Back in the early 60s when I was a teen I hung out at a gas station where the owner had a Ford flathead stock car he raced.
They got some good power, but there were ongoing problems with cracking the block between the valves and cylinder bore.
I learned a lot about mechanics from those guys, the good old days.
When I told my Uncle that we were working on it he said: “That strange I did the same when I went to Michigan 30 years ago.”
The economics and infrastructure were just not feasible at the time.
Now with fracking it looks more promising.
Its hard to beat the energy density, stability and portability of gasoline.
But I believe you are right about LNG in the long run.
The other option is that nat gas becomes pervasive in the commercial arena (where vehicles come back to a central fuel depot) and in railroads. Leaving more petroleum for cars.
Yeah, the to n percent corn fuel doesn’t give the same amount of “go” as the non corn blends.
Here in NY we have no choice, everything is ten to fifteen percent ethanol.
Which reduces your range in winter.
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