Gasoline vehicles

The sum of the downstream costs adds roughly 7.9 cents per Hter (300/gal) and the adjustment of the final cost for an amount of methanol fuel equivalent ia distance driven to an equal volume gasoline involves a multiplier ranging from 1.6 to 2.0, depending on fuel specification and the assumed efficiency for methanol light-duty vehicles as compared to gasoline vehicles. The California Advisory Board has undertaken such cost assessment (11). 

Fuel Flexible Vehicles. Using dedicated alcohol fuel vehicles pointed to the importance of a wide distribution of fueling stations. Methanol-fueled vehicles require refueling more often than gasoline vehicles. 

Methanol substitution strategies do not appear to cause an increase in exposure to ambient formaldehyde even though the direct emissions of formaldehyde have been somewhat higher than those of comparable gasoline cars. Most ambient formaldehyde is in fact secondary formaldehyde formed by photochemical reactions of hydrocarbons emitted from gasoline vehicles and other sources. The effects of slightly higher direct formaldehyde emissions from methanol cars are offset by reduced hydrocarbon emissions (68). 

The factory-produced, dedicated NGV is the ultimate goal of the NGV industry because it will reduce the incremental cost of the vehicle, the fuel system will be belter integrated into the vehicle, and the vehicle performance can be optimized for natural gas. A dedicated NGV s emissions, power, and driveability can be superior to a comparable gasoline vehicle. There is however, a reluctance by some automobile manufacturers to produce dedicated NGVs until the refueling infrastructure is more fully developed. 

Gobel, U., Hoehne, J., Lox, E.S. et al. (1999) Durability Aspects of NOx Storage Catalysts for Direct Injection Gasoline Vehicles, SAE Technical Paper 99FL-103. 

Table 15.5. Assumed cost and performance of hydrogen FCVs and gasoline vehicles ...

To estimate the overall transition cost, the STM tracks the incremental costs of the hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles sold in the market relative to the same number of gasoline vehicles. Two components of this transition cost are estimated over time. First is the incremental price of buying hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles each year,... 

Figure 15.13. Cash flows for introduction of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Positive cash-flow values indicate that the cost of H2 vehicles and/or fuel is lower than the cost of gasoline vehicles or fuel.

Sera, N., K. Fukuhara, N. Miata, and FI. Tokiwa, Detection of Nitro-azabenzo[ ]pyrene Derivatives in the Semi-volatile Phase Originating from Airborne Particulate Matter, Diesel and Gasoline Vehicles, Mutagenesis, 9, 47-52 (1994). 

Methanol s major advantages in vehicular use are that it is a convenient, familiar liquid fuel that can readily be produced using well-proven technology. It is a fuel for which vehicle manufacturers can, with relative ease, design a vehicle that will outperform an equivalent gasoline vehicle and obtain an advantage in some combination of emission reduction and efficiency improvement [1.7]. 

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