CNG Truck, anyone researched?

[CorpsVet]

I have been driving cng vehicles since 2007, round trip 120 miles 5 days a week. Have saved a TON of money, "greener", change oil less often. Gotten tax credits to help off set initial costs.

Between OKC and Dallas there are plenty of places to get fuel.

I get 40 mpg, so about 3 gals/day. Current cng price is $1.65/ gal. Don't even know current price of gasoline but I figure cng saves me around $6 to $7 /day times 5 days a week.

 

[Shadowrider]

And the better the fuel mileage you get, the longer it would take to pay off.

What are you smokin Okie? If it gets better mileage it adds to the savings compared to gas?

 

[Oklahomabassin]

IIRC With a $12000 initial cost, with gas at $3.75 and CNG at $1.73. To get a ROI in 3 years you must drive 40K miles per year.

You can get a state tax credit for 50% of the cost of conversion.

Apply this to your figures and break even point is quicker.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

What are you smokin Okie? If it gets better mileage it adds to the savings compared to gas?

I think what he is meaning that savings in fuel costs adds up a lot quicker for 15 mpg versus a 40 mpg vehicle.

 

[Okie4570]

What are you smokin Okie? If it gets better mileage it adds to the savings compared to gas?

The more fuel you buy the more you save. 200 mile trip...... $1.65/gal/cng @ 14mpg = 14.28 gal fuel used = $23.56
200 mile trip..... $1.65/gal/cng @ 40mpg = 5.0 gal fuel used = $8.25

I'll pay off the cost of my conversion quicker than CorpsVet will, I'll get to $10k faster than he will.

 

[Okie4570]

Here's a payback calculator........and no mine didn't cost $18k on the truck.

http://www.westport.com/products/automotive/wingpowersystem/natural-gas/payback-calculator

 

[Shadowrider]

The more fuel you buy the more you save. 200 mile trip...... $1.65/gal/cng @ 14mpg = 14.28 gal fuel used = $23.56
200 mile trip..... $1.65/gal/cng @ 40mpg = 5.0 gal fuel used = $8.25

I'll pay off the cost of my conversion quicker than CorpsVet will, I'll get to $10k faster than he will.

That's true but it's not all of the equation. Compare any given trip on gasoline cost and add that difference into the savings too.

Edit: Okay I think I see that you were just comparing you payoff to Corpsvet? In that case yes, it's just a miles driven per year kind of thing and everybody will be different. CNGofOKC has customers getting to payoff in 6 to 9 months. But they have to drive a ton of miles to do that. If my work puts me back on the road I'll have one as fast as I can get it put on. As it is now it's not too much of an issue for me, but it's a "I would travel more if I had it" sort of thing. In my work one year I drove 68,000 miles, so it's a no brainer if that happens again.

 

[Okie4570]

That's true but it's not all of the equation. Compare any given trip on gasoline cost and add that difference into the savings too.

Use the calculator in the link, and only adjust the mpg.

 

[BadgeBunny]

While we do not have a CNG vehicle, I do have personal knowledge of someone who has had nothing but trouble had their conversion done. It has been out of service much more than it has been in service. Problems are rampant and parts to fix are non-existent, apparently.

I don't think I would buy a car already with it, or retro-fit one, if I needed to rely on the vehicle to work ... or a repair service to get to it in a timely manner.

 

[okiebindernut]

We have a 2014 F-350 at work on CNG. Approximately 75000 trouble free miles so far. We just had a F 150 converted last week. With the expense of repairs and maintenance on a diesel pickup it is a no brainer for us to go with gasoline or CNG. One other bit of info. As of 7-1-14 the state tax incentive has been lowered to 45%. I don't know how often it is going to go down, but over time it will decrease.