Conversion of Gasoline Vehicles to CNG Hybrid Vehicles (CNG-Electric Vehicles)

Abstract

Operating CNG vehicles are really beneficial in the Middle East region considering the fact that gasoline is offered at a heavily subsidized price and therefore, by converting a significant portion of the automobiles to run on CNG, the gasoline internal consumption could be reduced. This in turn will result in more oil being available for export which will be beneficial to the economy of Qatar. Hybrid Vehicles mainly have a CNG engine along with an electric drive. The batteries of Hybrid Vehicles are charged by a CNG engine. Since the CNG engine is employed only to recharge the electric batteries, the engine size and emissions may be considerably less in hybrid vehicles relative to typical diesel vehicles. Although CNG-Electric hybrid vehicles are less common than Diesel-Electric hybrids, but they have been tested in several U.S. cities such as Denver and Seattle.

CNG-electric hybrids hold huge potential for the future in the fact that they are significantly cleaner sources of energy and are conveniently suited to serve the needs of the current economy and modes of transportation. The use of these alternative sources of fuels requires investment and significant studies need to be made to evaluate their efficiencies and reliability. This paper would cover most of these aspects and also explores the use of these technologies with particular reference to Qatar and the Middle East.