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Kōrero: Energy supply and use

Coal gas for cars, 1940s

During the Second World War several thousand cars were converted to run on coal gas or on charcoal-burning gas producers. The government waived a mileage tax for converted cars, eager to reduce petrol use. There was another advantage in conversion: petrol was strictly rationed until June 1950.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Surface shelters. National Film Unit, 1942

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Megan Cook, Energy supply and use – Coal and coal gas, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/video/21458/coal-gas-for-cars-1940s (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Megan Cook, i tāngia i te 12 April 2010.

Comments

jsingle54
12 April 2022
I was in Sweden in the early 70's it was not at all unusual in the rural areas to see a 2 wheeled cart pulled behind an automobile with a coal gas generator on it. The coal gas generators I saw looked like a huge bottle with the neck sawed off just above the shoulder. The seemed pretty efficient as they were running 40 to 50 miles an hour and they went at least 35 miles when I followed them.