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by cfesta9 4766 days ago
We have seen a new fleet of taxi cabs here in Chicago. They run on compressed natural gas. I got to ride in a VPG a few weeks ago. The driver liked the car but said the biggest problem is mileage. 9-10 mpg in the city. I like the idea of CNG, of course there are kinks that need to be worked out. Forklifts have been running on CNG for years so why not cars.

New Auto Company: Built in Indiana http://www.vpgautos.com/

Chicago Article about VPG Auto: http://taxicabtimes.com/compressed-natural-gas-fuels-expansi...
2 comments
pavs 4766 days ago
Here in bangladesh (I think to some extend in india too) CNG is being extensively used for the last 5-6 years.

We have more CNG station than mobile stations here. The price used to be 1/3rd of mobile but because of CNG shortage it has gone up in recent times.

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amalag 4766 days ago
India mandated CNG for taxi's in many cities to combat air pollution. It has had a significant effect to reduce air pollution.
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gngeal 4766 days ago
The driver liked the car but said the biggest problem is mileage. 9-10 mpg in the city.

Since when is gas measured in gallons? Around here, we've always had it measured in cubic meters at atmospheric pressure.

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cfesta9 4765 days ago
I see how this statement is flawed. Thank you for pointing that out. So this car gets 9-10 miles per (your choice of wordage). Also around murica we measure gas in gallons. hahaha.
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gngeal 4764 days ago
Oh, I should have written Europe::gas, which is not the same thing as America::gas or Europe::petrol. The problems with using mpgs for CNG and LPG vehicles, of course, are many:

- CNG, LPG, and gasoline have significantly different mass density, so you can't compare the fuel tank sizes easily.

- CNG (methane), LPG (propane/butane), gasoline (octane), and diesel have different energy density, so it doesn't make sense to compare mileage by volume.

- They also may have slightly different energy efficiency in the engine.

My conclusion is that the best way is probably miles per MJ of the calorific value of the fuel.

Or, you know, you could simply state miles per $ of the fuel price + power train depreciations/maintenance, or even include the vehicle's TCO, which is what intensive car users are aiming for anyway. :-)

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