| morknmini |
Aug 3, 2005 12:48 PM |
Have you looked into how this is achieved in other cars? I know a little about it from a couple of CNG transit projects I worked on, but I was more involved in the fueling facility rather than the vehicles. And this was 2 years ago so things might have improved since then. Back then I was told the conversion is not easy to do and extra space is required within the car's envelope. As well, the system weighs more than the conventional. It may not be practical for the MINI for those reasons--space (which the MINI must use every efficiently) and weight (which could upset the MINI's particular handling characteristics). Also, for now, CNG Hondas and Toyotas in my town's fleet of cars need to be refueled 2-3 times more often than cars using conventional energy because of the limited capacity of CNG cells. We are still be in the early days of CNG technology because the private sector (such as big gas companies) has been partnering with public agencies to popularize this promising variant. Maybe someone on NAM or MINI2 knows of a conversion. That would be fascinating and much attuned to the spirit of MINI (one version of it anyway).
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