pretty cool, how much does the conversion usually cost? I know this is probably more of an environmental move because natural gas burns cleaner but also what would the price of Nat. gas compare to with Petrol / Gasoline?

estimated cost of 4,75-5,55 euro p 100 km

and gas price is 60 euro cent p liter compared to 1,55 euro per liter petrol!

When I was in Buenos Aires I saw this too. They have converted all the Prius cars to Natural Gas in the city. They fill up for 5 dollars and that buys them about 215 KM range. Amazing range for such a low cost.

I think the energy for a gallon drops about 20%. Hmmm, my best mpg in the Prius was just over 71 ... so hypermileing would drop to about 57mpg. Or getting 50mpg would drop me to 40mpg. But with natural gas being cheaper, maybe its a wash, if you discount the fact that it's less smoggy.

great

i wonder what the problems are with the cars because the cylinders need some special fluid injecting into the system from keeping the cylinders burn up

None that I'm aware of. From the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's it was popular to convert a full size passenger car or truck to either propane or natural gas.

I have not heard of any issues with burned pistons. If anything, the motors lasted a lot longer due to how clean the gas burned compared to the gasoline, especially when the motor had a carb as all back then did

There were some issues. Burning natural gas or propane can cause odd nitration buildup, and the regular metallic additives in the oil can sometimes cause deposits as a result. But if the operator used proper engine oils formulated for natural gas/propane use, the motor lasted a very long time

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDESEssolube_G.pdf

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDESEssolube_AGX.pdf

This oil is run in the giant V-16 Waukesha compressors and generators

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDESEssolube_GLX_Plus.pdf

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDESGMA_Plus.pdf

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDESSelect_Plus_40.pdf

As you can tell, some natural gas lube oils are designed for exhaust catalytic compatibility, some are not. A lot of folks are unaware that running on propane or natural gas usually requires a different motor oil

ok
great info

I did ask about this when I was there because I thought it was very interesting. This was BEFORE I purchased my Prius. They explained that there is a "conversion" kit that needs to be purchased and installed. The cost was right about $2200 USD. But after this was completed you were good to go. In Argentina there are lots of Natural Gas Stations dotted all over the city and the ruta into and out of town. Unfortunatelly the US stations would take a while to make this available. I really think the US Energy Commission should look into this. If they can do it, I KNOW we can do it too.

Honda has been selling their Civic GX natural gas cars for years. I drive one at work.

Harry

What are you supposed to do if you get a flat tire??? I do not like the idea of having to carry the spare in the luggage area.

Since a tire pressure monitoring system is standard on the Prius, you use run flat tires and just drive to the shop when you get a flat.

I often wonder why cars still have spare tires. I have never had a flat in 15 years and 100's of thousand of miles of driving. I even tempted fate by taking the spare out of my Porsche 914.

I have had flat tires maybe once every 2 or 3 years. Last time it was a Sunday morning halfway between Spokane and the Canadian border. The time before that it was in the dead of winter in Fargo at 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Both times would have been much much worse if I had not had a spare tire. Not only do I want a spare, but I'd pay an extra $500 for the car overall if it had room for a real spare. The time north of Spokane I had to drive at doughnut-spare-tire speed on high-speed highways, pulling over often to allow the lines of cars to pass me.

It came to my notice when I was complaining about something else to Toyota that the LPG converted cars are burning out valves and Toyota are not allowing any warranty claims for these cars.

Anyone know if this is fact based, or Toyota trying to frighten off Prius owners?

Jon the Chief

so, What makes the conversion cost 2200?
anybody know more details?

The gas tanks are a big isue.
In my presentation on Ecofest 2007 in Manhattan, I parked my "DUAL PWR-PHEV" next to a company promoting conversions to LP gas for Taxi fleet owners, and talking with the sales presenter he told me that their 3 distributed evenly gas tanks where made with heavy steel walls plus covered with Kevlar fabric. Sound sufficient enough to get the seal of approval of the DOT I gest.

mrbigh

To revive this thread, I see that GM is going to start producing a combi-gas/ng rig for for pickup line.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...ural-gas-cng-chevrolet-silverado-gmc-sierra/1

Does anyone know if there is anyone out there doing this already for a Prius? I know they have those running on just the cng but if they have a combi version so if you don't find a cng station you can still run gasoline?

Probably more than $2200 these days I suppose?

Thanks

The problem with doing this on a prius is the size of the tank would take up a great deal of the cargo area the same problem as cng only. Dual fuel might require a smaller tank as it could use gasoline as reserve. I would think help from toyota on the ecu would be required to do a good dual fuel vehicle.

IMO your wish will be granted in the near future. It's only a matter of time before the public begins to appreciate how inexpensive NG is and begins demanding vehicles that can run on it. If the Leaf can sell with a limited range of 75-100 miles somebody in addition to Honda is going to offer a CNG vehicle with 200 mi of range. Then the Nav systems will be able to identify all the local refueling points.

That's something that was lacking back in the 80s and 90s. At that time you had to know an area like the back of your hand or rely on stumbling upon a CNG refueling station.