As domestic natural gas output reaches record levels, low prices are driving the purchase of CNG vehicles:
In a time when natural gas is relatively cheap, but manufacturers build mostly gasoline and diesel models, companies like AT&T and Verizon have calculated it's worth the expense to convert some gasoline vehicles to burn compressed natural gas (CNG).
Worldwide, natural gas vehicles make up a tiny sliver of the auto pie, accounting for just under one percent of all vehicles, according to 2010 data published by the trade association NGV Global. But in some parts of the world they're gaining popularity. AT&T announced last month that natural gas vehicles in its fleet now number 3,000, out of a total of more than 73,500 vehicles. By 2013, the company plans to increase the number of natural gas vehicles to 8,000.
And AT&T isn't alone. Between 2010 and 2016, the market research firm Pike Research predicts, global natural gas vehicle sales will grow by more than 9 percent year over year. Even some of the largest trucks on the road, such as long-haul UPS trucks, have been built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), rather than expensive diesel. And according to Rich Kolodziej, president of the trade association Natural Gas Vehicles for America, a number of companies are close to certifying conversion systems that would power big rigs using about half natural gas and half diesel fuel.
With new models holding the equivalent of 26 diesel gallons of fuel and giving off 25% lower emissions than gasoline and diesel counterparts, automakers are rolling out and ramping up CNG vehicle production.
For heavy trucks, the fuel savings alone (~ $1.89 per gallon) has drawn great interest:
A boom of sorts is happening in natural gas, especially compressed natural gas (CNG) in the commercial transportation sector. Most major truck manufacturers such as Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others are utilizing engines that run on CNG in many of their models. These engines are providing safer, cleaner and lower-cost fuel needs while keeping performance standards. Major truck stops and fuel stops are incorporating natural gas into their fuel islands for the increasing number of vehicles using it and fleet vehicles in the light-, medium- and heavy-duty categories using natural gas are growing in numbers at a very high rate.
Although diesel still dominates the fuel sector for commercial use, fleets large and small are turning to natural gas, especially CNG, as an alternative fuel source that is both cheap and plentiful as well as being much more emissions-friendly and cheaper to acquire than more expensive battery electric or hybrid drive trains.
Waste Management, the nation's largest handler of refuse and owner of the largest fleet of garbage trucks in North America, has more than 1,400 CNG-powered trucks in operation now and is acquiring more trucks every month. The company is replacing 80% of its fleet with CNG options over the next several years and has also been busy building or leasing CNG fueling stations in key locations for its operators in the U.S. and Canada. They will have 50 of those stations by the end of this year alone. Their nearest competitor, Republic Services, currently has more than 20% of its fleet in natural gas and is also converting nearly all of its fleet to the fuel in the next few years.
Ford and GM are partnering with CNG conversion centers to provide commercial trucks that run on both
compressed natural gas and traditional gasoline.
A battle is brewing in the world of fuel for full-size trucks. Ford and GM announced this week that they’ll invest in technology and partnerships to allow their V-8 pickups to run on compressed natural gas, or CNG.
The move is aimed at providing commercial truck users a more economical way to power their fleets and take advantage of the fact the fuel is sourced in North America.
Companies like Roush, Westport and IMPCO have long been huge CNG conversion centers for large and small businesses that have wanted to convert their fleet vehicles to the much less expensive fuel. With Ford and GM jumping into the fuel-system conversion segment, they’ll have more control over installation quality and warranty issues.
Chrysler is also entering the mix, beginning limited sales this year:
Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker controlled by Fiat SpA, plans to begin selling natural gas- powered pickups in the U.S. this year, said Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of both automakers.
“We are going to bring them here, there is no doubt,” Marchionne said yesterday in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Sales will be “limited at first. It depends upon the distribution network.”
Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of Auburn Hills, Michigan- based Chrysler, has engines using compressed natural gas in Europe. Chrysler executives have said they plan to begin deliveries of vehicles using the technology to the U.S. by 2017.
The only U.S. car equipped for natural gas, the
Honda Civic GX, is also looking to expand into the growing market:
Honda will expand the production and dealer network for its compressed-natural-gas (CNG) fueled Civic sedan for the 2012 model year, as the Japanese automaker looks to boost sales of the only production CNG passenger car in the U.S. Meanwhile, General Motors will start selling commercial pickup trucks by the end of the year that will be able to run on CNG in addition to gasoline. Honda renamed its Civic GX the Civic Natural Gas for the 2012 model year, will broaden the vehicle's distribution network to 35 states from just four, and will double its annual production to about 2,000 vehicles. The greenest vehicle sold in the United States for eight years running according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the 2012 Civic Natural Gas (above) will manage 11 percent better fuel economy than the 2011 version while the base price jumps 2.6 percent ($665) to $26,155.
Honda stopped production of the 2011 Civic GX in March and sold out of the vehicle in June according to Honda spokesperson Jessica Fini. Honda remains the only company making factory produced natural gas cars for the U.S. market, and its production is far below the annual demand threshold of 10,000 to 15,000 models that U.S. automakers like to see before ramping up for production of a new model. Still, some in the fuel and auto industry say that growing concerns about carbon emissions and energy security may be a springboard for broader CNG-vehicle production for both fleets and individual owners. As a fuel, CNG burns cleaner than gasoline or ethanol, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions. It is also much cheaper than gasoline and reduces periodic engine maintenance because it doesn't contain the impurities that leave deposits in a gasoline engine. Annual global sales of natural-gas-propelled vehicles in the United States will almost quadruple to 33,000 vehicles in 2016 from about 8,400 in 2012, Pike Research said in a report last month.