Passenger cars that are powered by natural gas may become a possible mainstream commodity in America.

An agreement was signed by General Motors and Westport Innovation Inc. based on Vancouver in developing natural gas engine controls as well as performance strategies and emissions.

According to a report, the project is said to be amounting up to millions which will focus on engines that are light weight such as 0.5 liters, which is usually utilized in smaller passenger automobile.

Natural gas has been widely and increasingly used in heavy trucks and buses for already ten years, because its cleaner-burning and cheaper compared to gasoline. However, this alternative fuel has not yet entered vehicles and light-duty trucks’ mainstream.

At this time, Honda Civic GX is the only car market in the US that commercializes natural-gas powered passenger cars.

There are only less than 900 fueling natural gas stations in US while there are many houses in US that use natural gas utilized for cooking and heating. This means that the source of domestic fuel is presently unpractical for passenger cars.

But with the increased political forces and market pressing on using reserves of natural gas in US, it will most probably be a short time before passenger vehicles are prepared for running using natural gas, considering that its cheaper compared to gasoline which costs less than $2 per gallon.