Isuzu unveils its first gas-powered truck
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Japanese manufacturer Isuzu has teamed up with Tokyo Gas to produce what it believes is the first practical truck to run on gas. Some car engines below two litres have already been successfully converted in Japan, but this is the first application in the commercial vehicle sector.
The test truck is a refuse collector based on the Isuzu Elf chassis-cab. Trials were carried out last year and Isuzu now claims that its performance does not differ markedly from traditionally powered trucks. Moreover, it says the engine requires minimal maintenance and is far less polluting than diesel.
Isuzu has handled the engine development and bodywork while Tokyo Gas has been responsible for the pumping technology. The test Elf is fitted with a converted BE2 3.6-litre diesel engine. Four 35-litre gas tanks give it a range of 150km — still only a quarter the range of a traditional Elf — but emissions have been cut drastically.
Carbon monoxide emissions are said to be 6% and nitrogen oxide is 5% of diesel engines of comparable power.
Carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon exhaust from the gas engine is on a par with the lowest levels currently attainable with diesel, says lsuzu. 0 Truck operators should pay a "weight distance" levy instead of fuel and road taxes, according to Lancaster University academic John Whiteiegg. He told the Institute of British Geographers last week: "In Britain lorry operators pay about 20% of all costs they impose on society, with the noise, accidents, pollution and road destruction they cause."