VW to add a turbo CNG option to European Passat
Volkswagen wants to expand its presence in the European fleet market and plans to use a new version of the Passat to do it. In early 2008, VW will start building a Passat that can run on compressed natural gas that can be easily refueled at central fleet locations. The CNG Passat is scheduled to be equipped with the 1.4L TSI four cylinder with a 150hp output. In Europe, CNG can be had for 0.90 euro/L compared to gasoline 1.35 euro/L. At some point after the CNG Passat is launched, the CNG option will be added to the Touran, Golf and Caddy.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nathan 10:28AM (6/09/2008)
Can I buy a European CNG Passat? Or any CNG model? I live in the USA, and CNG were I live is very Cheap!
Also - I would really want to buy a "duel or tri-fuel vehicle". It would be nice to use both CNG and Gasoline (as sometimes it is hard to find CNG stations for filling up
Thanks,
Nathan
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Gerry 11:11PM (9/06/2008)
I would like to buy a CNG vehicle. Why doesn't GM start selling them here in the US? They sell them in Singapore. and Europe.
What can we do to put pressure on the US auto makers to start making and selling CNG car here?
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James H. 10:21PM (10/11/2008)
Gerry (and all),
As you may be aware, Honda sells an NG - fueled Civic, the Civic GX. They've been selling it for years, but it hasn't been very popular. You can now see them popping up on eBay for butthole-reaming prices. In addition, perhaps the better option, are conversion kits. We're on the right track here for more reason that most realize. Google "T. Boone Pickens" or "Pickens Plan" and read up on the natural gas part of the plan which we ALL should be working at. That's what I'm up to - my first project will likely be my '86 Toyota pickup. With it's 2.4l 4 cyl. engine, it has merely sufficent power to move itself, but the payback is in decent fuel economy for a 3600 lb 4 wheel drive thing about as aerodynamic as a billboard flat side to the wind. VW really has something here - I've dreamed of turbocharging a CNG vehicle since 6 years ago when I was first learning about alternative fuels and found that due to high flash points, CNG would be a great fuel for a boosted project. An alternative veh. team I was a part of had a propane fired electric hybrid Chevy S-10. We had some trouble with the engine and decided to tear it down and rebuild it. In seeking some advice from a very knowledgable person when it came to engines, he informed us that we would find significant improvements increasing compression, because the propane would not detonate at the higher pressures. We tried it, shaving 0.075" off the cylinder head which brought the compression ration up to about 12.5:1 and found a significant improvement in power and fuel economy of about 8-10 mpg (gasoline equivalent). CNG really opens possibilities for the internal combustion engine, and together we can bring up its popularity.
-Jim
Mirko 3:39PM (12/20/2007)
Non-turbocharget CNG engines are already available in the Caddy and have been available in the last-gen Golf station wagon.
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summazooma 7:08AM (12/21/2007)
Not an expert but I still think CNG is underutilized as an alternative fuel.
I know the compromises required to integrate tanks into an existing vehicle as well as the generally less widely available fueling sources but, given how cleanly it burns and the potential for biomethane production literally from piles of refuse, I'd like to see, like many vehicles in Brazil, tri-fuel vehicles here in the U.S.
Add in the potential for biomethane production from the piles of refuse in every part of the country and I think we're sitting on a "gold mine" of sorts...
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Luke Hallam 8:01PM (12/29/2007)
summazooma,
I completely agree with you. Here in Australia we have large natural gas reserves and we pipe the stuff to most houses in our major cities. You'd think that with the infrastructure already in place and the environmental benefits of CNG over petrol/gasoline it would be too easy to sell CNG vehicles here. However, as far as I know not one car manufacturer has ever attempted to do so. I'm still trying to find out why this is so when CNG cars are readily available in Europe, North America and South America.
Luke
http://envirofuel.com.au
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