I'd like to see an option for CNG and/or Propane to power the ICE. Tri-fuel is probably asking too much due to space constraints, and probably fuel injection issues.

If I'm right about hardly ever needing to run the ICE, propane, while expensive, burns quite clean, is easy to find and has not long term storage issues.

I converted a standby generator from gasoline to propane a few years back and was really impressed with how easily it started, how smoothly it ran. Carburetted engine it was, no choke needed with propane, even in the dead of winter.

And no, I'm not on T. Boone's payroll :)

I believe the Volt will be the base platform for countless configurations of alternative fuel vehicles.

Allcarselectric has an article that natural gas will get funding again. It would be good to build that out, assuming they use a system that can also be used for hydrogen.

CNG and propane would be extremely niche as there is almost no refueling infrastructure for it and even hard core greenies wouldn't like the idea of using them because they're still creating CO2.

It's a dream, but I'm hoping for some kind of sustainable and affordable algal or cellulosic ethanol, even if it was $5/gallon would be cool since 78% of the population would never even use it, and the 22% that did would maybe use .25-1 gallon or something a day, your daily commute would still be extremely affordable. Even a 1000 mile trip in a Volt at $5/gallon would only cost about $100. The same cost as a 30 mpg car running $3/gallon gas except that the CO2 to make the ethanol would be taken from the atmosphere so it would CO2 neutral, and the money would be staying in the US sustaining meaningful jobs that aren't rebuilding a $5 billion bridge that still has 20 years of life left in at the tax payer's expense (like what they're doing in my neck of the woods).

omni,

It's no dream, bio-fuels will be a significant fuel stock in the years to come.

CNG and propane would be extremely niche as there is almost no refueling infrastructure for it and even hard core greenies wouldn't like the idea of using them because they're still creating CO2.

No infrastructure for refueling propane? How do you think millions of people fill their bar-b-que tanks every summer? I realize the propane exchange stations have become very popular but here in Washington propane is readily available even in the most rural areas.

I'll grant you that commercial CNG refueling infrastructure is limited. Here in the Seattle area it happens to be quite good but that's not true in most places. What is true though, there's a device you can buy that will take the NG available at your home and compress it overnight to fill your tank. I know, it's not a cheap deal.

I'd run that ICE off propane in a heartbeat were it an option.

As far as the greenies go, they can squawk all they want, I'll listen when they start making my Volt payments :)

Misslexie, I'm not discounting the allure of propane and CNG, I agree with you that it would be a great way for our country to diversify our fuel needs as they are much more abundant, (read: far from peaking), especially compared to the oil production in the US, and cleaner of course. CO2 doesn't cause lung cancer like people in smoggy SoCal cities are dealing with. Depending on who you talk to, global warming is a problem that might, after several decades, begin to cause significant issues, but Propane/CNG are excellent interim solutions to oil so as to prevent further economic collapse when oil prices spike.

I'm just saying that whether we like it or not, the average person can't even afford a Volt, and those who can are paying the extra for a range extender (over a Nissan Leaf or whatever other EV competitors will be out there) because they don't have to deal with hassle factors of not being able to go on road trips, looking for special places to recharge when in other cities, watching how far away from home they go in case they won't have enough to get back etc., because the range extender runs on gas, it goes anywhere any other car goes. CNG/propane eliminates that advantage.

The home NG compressor would certainly be cool (depending on cost), but you would still have the same problems of finding somewhere special to refuel when you were out of town, which is mainly when you will be using the range extender, anyway. With no good way to refuel your vehicle when you're away from home, you might as well have just bought a BEV-100 like the Leaf.

Moral of the story, CNG/propane Volt = small niche

From this article.

http://green.autoblog.com/2008/11/19/la-2008-toyota-camry-cng-hybrid/


In 1999, Toyota marketed a CNG-powered four-cylinder Camry to fleet customers in California. Due to relatively low gasoline costs at that time, customers were not attracted to a vehicle that required special refueling techniques and a limited refueling infrastructure. The program was discontinued a year later. Today there are less than 1,000 CNG refueling stations nationwide, with less than half open to the public.

You are no doubt correct omnimoeish, I'm leaving it on the wish list for now though ;)