AFVI 2008: Need some propane for your pony? IMPCO shows off bi-fuel 'Stang
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A Mustang with a "Propane" license plate will get my attention. As I walked by the Impco Technologies booth at the AFVI show in Las Vegas this week, I couldn't help but stop to find out more. Sadly, the sticker on the side of the Mustang that read "Plug and Drive" didn't mean what we might assume. The slogan is more about the ease of installation; not about any plug that reaches from the car to the grid (we'll have to leave it to these guys for our plug-in Mustangs). Still, there's some cool tech going on here.
I spoke with Rob Mercer, IMPCO's business manager of transportation, about the 'Stang. He's proud of the proof-of-concept modifications that were done to the 2005 Mustang but he's got a special reason to be smiling about what's been added to the car. It's his personal vehicle, after all. So, what's the haps?
IMPCO has developed a bi-fuel system that Mercer claims can seamlessly switch between the propane stored in the trunk or the gasoline stored in the standard tank. The vehicle will also automatically switch between the two, for example when one fuel type is about to run out. The system can be added to any production vehicle (in the Mustang, the system cost about $3,500) and IMPCO has also developed a natural gas bi-fuel system (for around $10,000) that works well in large pick-up trucks. One of the benefits of the dual-fuel set-up, Mercer said, is that the end user does not have to worry about moving to an atypical fuel type. Whenever they want to - which probably won't be often considering the price difference between natural gas and standard gasoline - they can fill up using gas.
Give a listen (6 min) and check out the gallery.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ThatHollie 8:31AM (5/13/2008)
I'm confused by your use of the term "natural gas"...propane is not the same as natural gas. It is possible, but non-trivial, to have an engine that could switch back and forth between propane and natural gas, but I didn't hear Mr. Mercer say anything about doing that.
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ThatHollie 8:40AM (5/13/2008)
OK I listened to it again, and switching is mentioned, but I still don't know if it switches between propane and natural gas automatically, or if the engine has to be retuned/adjusted.
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Jim Hurley 3:21PM (5/13/2008)
Starting back in 1962 or 1963 I was running a Chrysler New Yorker on propane and I could switch between propane and gas as needed. It cost about $300 dollars for the conversion. After I sold the Chrysler, I ran a 1958 Dodge 6 cylinder pickup and then a 1968 Dodge 318 V8 pickup on the same setup. I was able to use the regulator and the tank from the first setup, all I had to do was change out the carburetor adapter. Back then one could expect a 10% drop in performance on propane although the low end power was better. With todays electronics one would expect that the engine could be setup to take advantage of the higher octane rating (about 108) when on propane and that it would actually perform better on propane than on gas. There were other benefits also; much cleaner burning, no oil dilution, and extended engine life to name a few.
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jfinlayson+autobloggreen 4:12PM (5/13/2008)
If I read this correctly, IMPCO developed two distinct products. They had already developed a $10k natural-gas/gasoline bi-fuel system. Now they offer a $3.5k propane/gasoline bi-fuel system, too.
The lower cost of the latter system does have some appeal, but because propane is a petroleum distillate, it tracks the price of gasoline a lot more closely than natural gas does. So there would seem to be little benefit as a hedge against future unpredictable price divergence.
Natural gas prices, aside from being volatile in their own right, don't track the price of oil closely, so a natural-gas/gasoline switching system offers much more value as a hedge against the possibility that what's currently the lower-cost fuel (natural gas) becomes more expensive than gasoline.
Propane is currently about twice as expensive (per Btu) as natural gas.
I'm not sure I'd feel terribly safe driving around all the time with a full tank of propane or natural gas in my trunk.
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Tom 5:58PM (6/07/2008)
I have a 2005 Mustang V6 (4.0) and would like more information on this system. I really would like to keep her
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