"There have been massive new discoveries of natural gas in the United
States and Canada in the past year, particularly due to new
extraction from shale technologies. The discoveries have been
so massive that the price of natural gas has fallen in one year from
$13.7 Mcf to $3.51. Part of that price decline is also a decline
in global demand.

"What does this mean? Since a new car can be put on the market using
natural gas for the same price as a new petroleum burning car,
the U.S. can make a rapid shift to 50% natural gas in autos and electric
energy, with just domestic natural gas, in as little as four years.
It means:

"(1) With just existing market forces (forget the government and
subsidies) and expanding natural gas reserves, we are in for an era
when the oil producers in the Middle East will be significantly
diminished in power. We Americans can go back to driving big SUVs
and loving it."

-- http://phillips.blogs.com/goc/2009/0...l-gas-era.html

Some natural gas powered bikes:

http://www.motorcyclebatteries.net/m...y-natural-gas/
http://www.yugo-tech.com/moto.html
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/04...oncept_20.html

SQ

On Jun 24, 5:52*pm, Sean_Q_ <no.s...@no.spam> wrote:

> Some natural gas powered bikes:
>
> http://www.motorcyclebatteries.net/m...per-powered-by

Hideous, impractical and where's the F'ing tank?

>http://www.yugo-tech.com/moto.html

Poorly thought out tank placement...come up with a replacement tank
that goes where the OEM tank was and DOESN'T look like a propane
powered Farmall tractor from the 50's. IOW find a way to make a tank
that isn't some variation on the cylinder like the ones they used.
Remember is has to meet strict standards of saftey...

>http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/04...oncept_20.html

Nice three wheeled car. Why do I call it a car? It's enclosed that's
why.
--
Keith

Schiffner wrote:
> On Jun 24, 5:52 pm, Sean_Q_ <no.s...@no.spam> wrote:
>
>> http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/04...oncept_20.html
>
> Nice three wheeled car. Why do I call it a car? It's enclosed
> that's why.

Pro'lly unstable. Better for 2 wheels up front for stability.
Rear single can be the driving one.

--
HPT

High Plains Thumper wrote:
> Schiffner wrote:
>> Sean_Q_ wrote:
>>
>>> http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/04...oncept_20.html
>>
>> Nice three wheeled car. Why do I call it a car? It's enclosed
>> that's why.
>
> Pro'lly unstable. Better for 2 wheels up front for stability.
> Rear single can be the driving one.

Spoke too quickly. At end of article, it states:

"A problem with three-wheel vehicles with a symmetrical wheel
layout is the tipping moment when cornering, which cannot be
controlled at high speeds if the vehicle has a short wheelbase.
To solve this problem the vehicle’s center of gravity can be
moved towards the center of the corner—just as a motorcycle does
when it corners."

"The do this, the vehicle is a cabin tilter, with the system
designed by the University of Bath. The cabin with the front
wheel is connected to the power unit and the two rear wheels by a
pivot bolt. The rotary movement of the cabin is produced by two
hydraulic cylinders (actuators) that are installed between the
cabin and the power unit. The actuators create the rotary angle
of the cabin of +/-45° relative to the vertical power unit."

I guess one can countersteer as on a motorcycle. By definition,
most states classify a 3 wheeler as a motorcycle, which means
they may be able to squeak past the more stringent auto crash
standards.

--
HPT

On Jun 25, 8:13*pm, High Plains Thumper
<highplainsthum...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
> "The do this, the vehicle is a cabin tilter, with the system
> designed by the University of Bath. The cabin with the front
> wheel is connected to the power unit and the two rear wheels by a
> pivot bolt. The rotary movement of the cabin is produced by two
> hydraulic cylinders (actuators) that are installed between the
> cabin and the power unit. The actuators create the rotary angle
> of the cabin of +/-45° relative to the vertical power unit."
>
> I guess one can countersteer as on a motorcycle.

Nope. The tilt is supplied by hydraulic actuators rather than by
gravity so you'd simply steer into a turn the same way you would in a
cage, rather than steer to the *outside* of a turn (counter-steering)
to cause the vehicle to bank to the inside and begin the turn.

Neither would it track around a turn like a motorcycle because the
rear tires don't lean towards the inside of the corner: they remain
upright.

High Plains Thumper wrote:
> High Plains Thumper wrote:
>> Schiffner wrote:
>>> Sean_Q_ wrote:
>>>
>>>> http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2006/04...oncept_20.html
>>>
>>> Nice three wheeled car. Why do I call it a car? It's enclosed
>>> that's why.
>>
>> Pro'lly unstable. Better for 2 wheels up front for stability.
>> Rear single can be the driving one.
>
> Spoke too quickly. At end of article, it states:
>
> "A problem with three-wheel vehicles with a symmetrical wheel
> layout is the tipping moment when cornering, which cannot be
> controlled at high speeds if the vehicle has a short wheelbase.
> To solve this problem the vehicle’s center of gravity can be
> moved towards the center of the corner—just as a motorcycle does
> when it corners."
>
> "The do this, the vehicle is a cabin tilter, with the system
> designed by the University of Bath. The cabin with the front
> wheel is connected to the power unit and the two rear wheels by a
> pivot bolt. The rotary movement of the cabin is produced by two
> hydraulic cylinders (actuators) that are installed between the
> cabin and the power unit. The actuators create the rotary angle
> of the cabin of +/-45° relative to the vertical power unit."
>
> I guess one can countersteer as on a motorcycle. By definition,
> most states classify a 3 wheeler as a motorcycle, which means
> they may be able to squeak past the more stringent auto crash
> standards.

Since it uses hydraulic cylinders to force the cabin to tilt I don't think
that countersteering is going to have any effect.

On Jun 24, 7:52*pm, Sean_Q_ <no.s...@no.spam> wrote:
> "There have been massive new discoveries of natural gas in the United
> States and Canada in the past year, particularly due to new
> extraction from shale technologies. The discoveries have been
> so massive that the price of natural gas has fallen in one year from
> $13.7 Mcf to $3.51. *Part of that price decline is also a decline
> in global demand.
>
> "What does this mean? Since a new car can be put on the market using
> natural gas for the same price as a new petroleum burning car,
> the U.S. can make a rapid shift to 50% natural gas in autos

Disregarding that:

A) There is a tiny LNG infrastructure issue that needs to be resolved.

B) OSAHA is going to have to come to grips with major accidents while
the hillbillies figure out that smoking near volatile gases is
honestly bad for their health.

C) A market full of employed persons is always nice though unlikely to
find in our US of Dependency...