- There were gas cars already during the First World War, but mainly in the 1930s and 1940s they started to be manufactured.
It was actually in Germany that it started when the petrol ran out.
They didn't have their own oil, but neither did we, says Markus Almroth.
The world wars drove development
During the 1930s, the armed forces developed a test operation for natural gas and, well, the Second World War broke out and the oil shortage was a fact, so the knowledge about the fuel was extensive and you could install natural gas units directly on existing vehicles.
- In the mid-40s and just before the end of the war, there was only gang gas.
All vehicles that were rolling, unless they were police or government vehicles, ran on gas.
Highly environmentally friendly but dangerous
Compared to gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles, CNG was not safe due to the formation of high concentrations of carbon monoxide, an invisible and dangerous gas that caused both death and serious poisoning.
However, when Markus tested the car at the car test to see how environmentally friendly it was, the measurements showed zero emissions.
- The problem is that there is not enough wood to keep the fleet of vehicles we have running today, there wouldn't be a stick left, says Markus.
A perhaps less funny detail, but still, is that most of the deaths were not because the gas was dangerous, but because the boilers exploded and the lids landed on people's heads, he continues.
Watch the clip above when Markus tells more about the gengas car.