CNG Fuels New Pickup Trucks GM Rolls Out
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- As auto manufacturers begin producing vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), companies that operate fleets of vehicles look to save millions in fuel costs by converting from diesel or gasoline.
For 2013, General Motors is rolling out its Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty (HD) and GMC Sierra 2500HD bi-fuel pickup trucks to meet anticipated demand. Both feature a Vortec 6.0-liter V8 engine that runs on gasoline and CNG. The trucks hold 17 gas-gallon-equivalent of CNG and 36 gallons of gasoline, giving them a 650-mile range.
A truck will automatically run on CNG until the supply is exhausted, “then automatically switch over to gasoline,” says Mike Jones, GM fleet and commercial product manager. Drivers can also manually switch to gasoline while CNG remains in the tank. He admits there’s a slight drop in horsepower when a truck runs on CNG – 360 horsepower with gasoline, 301 with CNG – but Jones says the savings makes these vehicles worth the investment.
“Typically, when we’re seeing $4 [per gallon] of gas, we’re seeing $2 on the average CNG,” Jones says. “It’s a good situation for fleets, because they typically put a lot of mileage on a vehicle.”
Among Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s fleet of 5,000 pickup trucks, more than 1,800 run on CNG, says its fleet operations director, Nate Pumphrey. The company has replaced or converted all of its fleet vehicles in Oklahoma and Louisiana and is working to replace its vehicles in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. About 75% of its fleet is composed of GM vehicles, mostly 1500LD and 2500HD Chevrolet Silverados, he says.
Chesapeake is also working to increase the longevity of those vehicles to 125,000 miles, up from 100,000, “allowing us to take even greater advantage of CNG fuel cost savings and price stability across the life of these vehicles,” Pumphrey says.
“Our natural gas fleet vehicles are currently saving the company between 4 cents and 9 cents per mile in fueling costs,” Pumphrey says. “Our fleet is on pace to reach 150 million miles this year and that equates to somewhere between $10 million and $12 million in possible annual savings.”
CNG vehicles helped Chesapeake reduce its gasoline consumption by about half and reduce its environmental footprint, Pumphrey says. Natural gas vehicles emit “30% less carbon dioxide and more than 90% fewer particulates” than gasoline-fueled vehicles, he says.
“By using natural gas, we are keeping our dollars spent on fuel that is a byproduct of American jobs and the American economy,” Pumphrey says. “This effort reduces our dependence on foreign oil.”
Chesapeake typically orders its vehicles through its fleet management company and uses local dealers for deliveries to its drivers, Pumphrey says. As more automakers offer natural-gas vehicles, fleets won’t have to rely on aftermarket sources for CNG conversions.
Since April, customers have been able to order the CNG bi-fuel pickups through their Chevrolet and GMC dealerships, which order them directly from GM’s plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., says GM’s Jones.
The vehicles are sent to IMPCO, GM’s tier-one supplier in Union City, Ind., for the installation of the CNG system.
“We have our people there monitoring the type of work they’re doing to make sure it meets our standards,” he says. “Before now, the only way you could get a vehicle like this was through aftermarket. We put all of our expertise and rigor into these products as we do with any other products that we have.”
The CNG systems are covered by GM’s five-year, 100,000-mile limited power train warranty and are fully certified for quality, durability, safety and other tests “that the aftermarket simply doesn’t have the resources or capabilities to do,” Jones says. He declined to cite specific numbers, but says, “Some fleets have jumped right in and ordered multiple units,” while most order just a few to try them out.
The biggest obstacle GM faces in getting its bi-fuel product out to more customers is infrastructure. With some 1,000 CNG stations throughout the country, nearly half of them private, he says the needed infrastructure occurs only in pockets.
But, with the realization that “there’s such an abundance of CNG in the U.S., at least a 100-year supply,” Jones expects more companies to invest in CNG tanks and looks for an increase in home-based CNG refueling equipment sales.
“A lot of companies are looking for better ways, cheaper systems and more reliable systems,” Jones says. “I think you’re going to see that part of the market really begin to grow in the short term.”
This story appeared in the MidDecember edition of The Business Journal.
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Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.