Ford Now Offering Natural Gas Option in Vehicles

[Slash]

For the new 2014 Ford lineup, Ford will be offering trucks prepped for Natural Gas use if the buyer wishes. This won't only be for commercial buyers but for everyone who wants one. This won't only be for the F-150, but for the entire F Series, E Series, Transit Connect and Super Duty pickups that have already had the option. It will add about $315 to the cost of the vehicle. Ford will be the only automaker with a full-size pickup that can come prepped from the factory for natural gas.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/07/31/ford-f150-pickup-natural-gas/2601565/


How are you going to fill these things up?

 

[homeforsummer]

FHow are you going to fill these things up?

At one of the 596 stations across the country probably, most of which seem to be on the east and west coasts, as well as Utah and Oklahoma for some reason.

The problem for me isn't so much where to fill them up, as the initial cost in the first place - $315 just gets you a few bits of plumbing to ensure it works when you pay someone $7k-$9k for the tank and connections itself.

That said, Ford reckons CNG costs about $1-2 per gallon equivalent at the moment, so for a business doing plenty of miles it could pay off pretty quickly.

 

[Omnis]

That's great, except the gas company won't let you use it for your car.

Also, NG doesn't have the same energy density as petroleum. But, then again, most other things don't. You'd have to work out whether the dollar off the price equivalent will be conserved in miles per unit volume.

 

[Slash]

That's great, except the gas company won't let you use it for your car.

Also, NG doesn't have the same energy density as petroleum. But, then again, most other things don't. You'd have to work out whether the dollar off the price equivalent will be conserved in miles per unit volume.

Yup.

At one of the 596 stations across the country probably, most of which seem to be on the east and west coasts, as well as Utah and Oklahoma for some reason.

The problem for me isn't so much where to fill them up, as the initial cost in the first place - $315 just gets you a few bits of plumbing to ensure it works when you pay someone $7k-$9k for the tank and connections itself.

That said, Ford reckons CNG costs about $1-2 per gallon equivalent at the moment, so for a business doing plenty of miles it could pay off pretty quickly.

Not a station I know of around these parts

It may pay off quickly but like Omnis said it really depends on your MPG per dollar.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

Is LPG as big a thing over there as it is here? I know it isn't exactly the same deal but we use LPG (primarily in our Falcons/Commodores/Aurions/Magnas, but there's plenty of cars that can do it...could even convert my WRX if there wasn't such a big risk of reliability issues) as an alternative fuel rather than natural gas and while it is an expensive undertaking for a conversion it's very quick to reap the benefits from because LPG is much much cheaper than petrol. You burn more per 100km but it is still a very considerable difference in overall cost.

 

[Tornado]

LPG Fords? How 1999.

 

[Slash]

Is LPG as big a thing over there as it is here? I know it isn't exactly the same deal but we use LPG (primarily in our Falcons/Commodores/Aurions/Magnas, but there's plenty of cars that can do it...could even convert my WRX if there wasn't such a big risk of reliability issues) as an alternative fuel rather than natural gas and while it is an expensive undertaking for a conversion it's very quick to reap the benefits from because LPG is much much cheaper than petrol. You burn more per 100km but it is still a very considerable difference in overall cost.

Never once seen a car in person with an LPG system installed.

 

[Jay]

Never once seen a car in person with an LPG system installed.

It's common over here (LPG). Either factory option or aftermarket installation.

However we don't have many CNG (natural gas) vehicles, mostly forklifts and busses.

 

[Tornado]

Never once seen a car in person with an LPG system installed.

If you visit a construction site (a long-haul one, like a quarry or something) you'll probably see a couple of work trucks converted to run on it, so they can fill it up from the big propane tanks they use.

 

[Slash]

If you visit a construction site (a long-haul one, like a quarry or something) you'll probably see a couple of work trucks converted to run on it, so they can fill it up from the big propane tanks they use.

That makes sense, but I don't frequent those areas so I wouldn't know.

 

[hawkeye122]

It was a while back, but I remember hearing that if LPG took off as an alternate fuel, the price would go up substantially, since there's much less of it around.

I saw a CNG Ford Contour in town once... Not sure why, but whatever floats their boat.

My uncle had an LPG pickup with a tank which took up most of the bed. A cousin was being nice and tried to buy diesel for him. Oops.

 

[homeforsummer]

It was a while back, but I remember hearing that if LPG took off as an alternate fuel, the price would go up substantially, since there's much less of it around.

That would make sense - it's supply and demand. If demand rises and supply stays the same, price goes up.

The main benefit at the moment is in CNG rather than LPG, since the U.S. is extracting huge volumes of the stuff through fracking. And while the process of fracking itself is environmentally dubious, burning CNG is a heck of a lot better environmentally than burning crude oil-based fuels.

And on a non-environmental note, if the U.S. keeps churning out gas at the rate it does, then the price shouldn't rise too much either, even if it's used more widely.

 

[DustDriver]

My dad and I both have an LPG system in our cars, but it isn't overly common, although you can find plenty of gas stations with a LPG pump.
Diesel engines are the norm here, and they can't be converted, obviously.

I really don't look at mileage, and use around 10 liters for every 100km.
My bike uses half of that, but price for 1 liter of LPG is a third of the petrol I put in the bike.