GAS ENGINES
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* A major carrot to tempt operators to switch to CFVs is the Government-funded Powershift programme, run by the Energy Saving Trust, which refunds 25, 50 or 75% of the extra cost of the vehicle. How much you get depends on NOx levels: specifically, how far below Euro-2 limits they are.
Vehicles are banded into three levels. Iveco Ford, for example, has a CNG-fuelled EuroTech registered as a Band 3 vehicle. It costs 224,000 more than the diesel-engined equivalent, but Powershift will refund 21 8,000 of that amount.
Cummins and Perkins are the main sources of gas engines, although truck manufacturers have also developed gas engines for buses. Compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquified natural gas (LNG) is used in larger trucks, while liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is an alternative in vans. They all require spark ignition.
One problem is the number of fuel tanks needed. ERF reckons that to match the range of a diesel, LNG vehicles need twice as much storage space and CNG trucks five times as much. There's also a weight penalty—typically between 500kg and 800kg. ERF predicts that LNG vehicles will :} e First choice with hauliers because of the reduced excess weight and longer range.
Local authority fleets have gained considerable experience with gas-fuelled vehicles, mainly with Dennis and ERF refuse collectors. ERF put its first natural gas-powered truck into service in 1992; it now offers six natural-gas models with four municipal variants using CNG (Cummins) and LNG (Perkins) engines. The number of gas refuelling sites is still low, but British Gas Vehicle Fuels has big expansion plans and is working on making gas more widely available to smaller fleets. It will bear some of the cost of setting up a gas refuelling site if the fleet is big enough, or if the owner is prepared to allow other operators to use it, feels that operators might be put off LNG by the more complicated storage and filling requirements, so it's concentrating on CNG and LPG.