Pros and Cons of Natural Gas Vehicles

By | March 3, 2014

Like vehicles run by other fuel alternatives, natural gas vehicles have their advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of natural gas vehicles.

Pros

  • Green house emissions from vehicles run by natural gas are far less than emission from gasoline vehicles. As these vehicles cause less pollution, they are less hazardous.
  • Natural gas vehicles gives consumers fuel economy. Considering price of the fuel, natural gas vehicles are best in terms of fuel efficiency.
  • Maintenance cost of these vehicles is very low. As buying a car is a long term investment, this will be a relief for natural gas vehicle owners.
  • In many countries including the United States, natural gas vehicle owners receive incentives. It is because they help curb air pollution.
  • There are a vast amount of natural gas deposits available.
  • Engines of natural gas vehicles have high compression ratio, which means fuel is almost burnt that leaves very few by products behind.

Cons
Though natural gas vehicles has its own advantages, it also has some drawbacks.

  • Implementing this technology entails high cost. Buying a natural gas vehicle will be costlier than a petroleum car. Moreover, natural gas vehicles are not popular and readily available.
  • Natural gas vehicles are not as fast as petroleum cars.
  • As these vehicles are not popular, there are only a few natural gas stations.
  • There are limited options in natural gas vehicles.
  • Natural gas vehicles have to be installed with additional components for fuel storage, which is more expensive than gasoline tanks.
  • There is lower performance of natural gas vehicle when looking at the amount of gas used in relation to mileage of the car.