Should I buy a natural gas car?

May 29, 2009 12:18 PM

Seriously considering buying a natural gas car. Any advice?

I'm looking at a Honda Civic GX ("G" for natural "gas"). If you assume the same gasoline milage for a Civic GX and a gasoline Civic you basically come up with an 8 "equivalent" gallon gas tank on the GX. This means that even though the natural gas tank is gigantic (taking up lots of trunk space) you can travel the same number of miles as if you had bought a similar Civic gasoline car and put 8 gallons of gasoline in it.

So this would be a commuter car.

Pros:
1) I can get a PHIL station put in my garage to hook up to my incoming gas line. No more gas stations.
2) Natural gas cars burn cleaner and last longer.
3) Plenty of tax credits.
4) High Occupancy Vehicle lane access on the highway
5) Price is reasonable. I can trade in my gas guzzling gasoline burning truck to take a serious bite out of the price of a GX.
6) Cheap fuel. In my region, natural gas with today's prices using my own house's gas line is like buying gasoline at $1.80 to $2 a gallon (gasoline here is $2.60 and climbing).

Cons:
1) Few commercial natural gas stations available
2) Small trunk space
3) If natural gas prices go up, cheap fuel "pro" is diminished.
4) I dunno. That's why I'm asking you.

Anybody out there own a natural gas car? Would you recommend owning one? Why or why not?

posted by Lord Fancy Pants to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

Con:
5) You get rear ended by a woman yelling at her kids and your car explodes.
posted by Oktober at 12:26 PM on May 29

If I got a hybrid, I think I'd get bicycle envy.
posted by aniola at 12:41 PM on May 29

No versatility to be anything other than a commuter car because:
- You can only go approximately 220 miles on one tank, which is less than the Honda Hybrid.
- On the Phill station, it takes 12 hours to fill the tank.
- Trunk is 6 cubic feet.

Also potentially lower resale value, as it is being offered almost exclusively as fleet vehicles (so there will be a lot of used ones on the market)(except in NY and California) but has limitations in usage (commuting mostly).
posted by Houstonian at 12:45 PM on May 29

5) You get rear ended by a woman yelling at her kids and your car explodes.

Ehhhh... explodes? No.

The natural gas is more volatile than gasoline. But the fuel system is designed to mitigate the risk.
posted by Netzapper at 1:18 PM on May 29

Con's:
If the Pill station runs 12 hours to refill the car, how many Kilowatt hours is it going to add to your electric bill monthly?

Lets say you install the Phill in your garage, what upgrades will need to be done to your garage to code compliantly install said combustible gas compressor in your garage?

Is you house's natural gas line sized for this additional load?

Will you need a better fire detection/suppression system or perhaps a ventlation system to install said device in a code compliant manner?

Is you gas water heater in this garage? If yes, it is a source of ignition and may need to be upgraded or moved. Most garage water heaters (in the US) are 18" off the floor as gasoline vapors are "heavy" not so with natural gas.

Will this combustible gas compressor change your household insurance rates?

My 2c
posted by blink_left at 1:26 PM on May 29

This might help.
posted by Jon-o at 1:42 PM on May 29

I used to fill natural gas canisters, and I got to talk to a few people who'd either bought natural gas autos or had a standard engine converted to natural gas. This was a few years ago *cough*decade-and-a-half*cough* and things may have changed, but there was a general consensus that, while natural gas was awesome, it was hard on engines so you couldn't expect them to last as long as gasoline engines.

Third-hand info, but it's something you might ask about.
posted by lekvar at 2:14 PM on May 29

Thanks! Keep 'em coming!

Blink_left: Definitely gas up over night. The kilowatt-hour impact to my gas bill would come out to the equivalent of buying gasoline at $1.80 to $2 a "gallon"--a net reduction in transportation costs (ignoring the initial car price (I would probably get a used model) and Phill station).

Code! I kinda assumed the installers would ensure installation according to code but point well taken. The insurance caveat is a good call too.

Jon-o: Yes! I haven't seen that link before but it's pretty much in line with my understanding including the perceived danger. Sparks will light natural gas as well as gasoline but while nat. gas goes up in the air and is safely dispursed, gasoline pools and remains flammable. Now if I could only find a doom and gloom link with "gotchas" to watch out for.

Thanks again!
posted by Lord Fancy Pants at 4:45 PM on May 29

Blink_left: whoops! I see what you mean about the electric bill! I'll have to consider that. Thanks.
posted by Lord Fancy Pants at 4:47 PM on May 29

I work for the gas company. We used to have natural gas powered cars but don't anymore. Now we have Priuses. Go figure!
posted by Joleta at 10:00 PM on May 29