Buying a natural gas vehicle

No not the same thing. Unless it's a bus, it's propane. You need a higher pressure to contain CNG. Check the site for other discussions on this topic. Propane is usually used along with normal gas as a choice. You flip a switch to go back and forth. I think gas is now cheaper than propane in cost per mile so the trend has died out.

Propane is still alot cheaper than gasoline... There are systems you can run natural gas as welll with is even cheaper but have a higher cost to convert. Plus natural gas is hard to find in the DR... outside of santo domingo only one I know is in Bavaro and that opened maybe 2 months ago

Propane is much cheaper, but is it cheaper per mile? You get a lot more BTUs to the pound with gas..

I understand that you will not get the normal horse power out of a vehicle which runs on propane. Also, it can wear out your engine a lot quicker, such as, your rings and pistons. Yes it is cheaper in the short term but you need to consider other factors.

JPeSo said:

I am looking to purchase a natural gas vehicle to use in the dominican republic. i know there are conversion that can be done but i would much rather buy a factory vehicle with this system. first off i would like to know if the cars in dominican republic fill up on liquid propane or compressed natural gas or is this all the same thing? secondly i would also like to know if anyone has any websites where i could buy a car like this or if anyone knows of any dealerships within the dominican republic or elsewhere that specializes in these types of vehicles? thank you in advance.

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Most cars using nat gas are conversions. They utilize propane which is readily available all over the country. To the best of my knowledge, there are no companies actually building vehicles to run on propane. There are however, lots of conversions.

There is an ever increasing number of stations to serve a small but growing fleet of conversions to CNG (compressed natural gas). The only automobile manufacturer that I am aware of that actually makes a production automobile to run on CNG is Honda. Large trucks and buses are currently being produced by Ford, Volvo, etc. with motors designed to run on nat gas.

Not sure where you would find a used vehicle in the DR that runs on CNG, but check with a Honda dealer. Be aware that CNG is harder to find outside the major metrpolitan areas of Santo Domingo and Santiago.

In the US they are popular in states like California and Utah....check EBAY motors or just google Homda NGV for sale if you are seriously interested.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Also consider where you live and drive. I do not see any CNG stations on the north coast as of yet.

been using propane conversion for a long time. Propane is cheaper to run if you are going at highway speeds. Around town where you stop and go there in no real saving. When I drive from PP to Santo Domingo its much cheaper on propane. It has to do with the lesser amount of btus in propane. Once you are up to speed it does not take much to keep at that speed and therein lies the savings. As far as being harmful to the engine internally I do not know. Never wore anything out internally yet and most of my repairs have been drive train and suspension due to the conditon of the roads here. Not to mention tires and batteries. For some strange reason batteries do not last long here. I am going to bring down a high quality gel battery next trip and see if that fixes the problem. Optima makes a really high quality battery.

As I understand it, Propane is a product of the refining process, and LNG and CNG is gas taken straight pout of a well and compressed. A "bastard gas" in the words of prominent and now retired cartoon character Hank Hill, asst. manager of Strickland Propane in Arlen Texas.