Isegoria

The co-CEOs of Nat G CNG Solutions urge us to forget electric cars:

At Mike Scully’s Apple Towing in Houston, just one of their big Ford F650 tow trucks saves more gasoline each year than 20 Nissan Leaf electric cars. When it comes to reducing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants, Mike’s F650s are equally impressive, and his fuel cost per mile is about the same as that of a four-seat Jeep Wrangler. What is Apple Towing’s secret? The F650 tow trucks run on natural gas, which they refuel for less than $1.70 per gasoline-gallon equivalent, or gge.

PIRA Energy Group estimates that natural gas in transportation will approach 800 million gges this year. Do some simple math and it quickly becomes apparent that natural-gas vehicles (NGVs) will displace 10-12 times more gasoline and diesel than the 250,000 electric cars currently on the road. When complete, Apple Towing’s small fleet of 24 natural-gas tow trucks will displace more gasoline than around 700 Chevy Volts. And here is a nice side benefit: Those Volts would cost federal taxpayers a whopping $5.3 million in subsidies while Mr. Scully’s F650 Fords cost them nothing.

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Apple Towing’s Mr. Scully asked our company, Nat G Solutions, to upgrade his F650s and at the same time install a natural-gas fueling compressor in his parking lot and hook it up to his city gas line. The great infrastructure crisis disappeared.

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For diesel trucks, a new generation of retrofit systems — from companies like NGV Motori USA and Landi Renzo — allow us to upgrade the big diesel engines to run on a 60/40 blend of natural gas and diesel, which is combined in real-time inside the engine. If the compressed natural gas runs dry, the truck switches back to 100% diesel and keeps on driving. This dual-fuel approach is now opening the door for long-haul natural-gas trucking without the need for multibillion-dollar infrastructure incentives or even the need to go out and buy new tractor-trailers.

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Ford has been leading the way in building “gas prepped” trucks — typically a $350 option — which enables any Ford-certified “qualified vehicle modifier” to install an approved natural-gas system without affecting the original power-train warranty. Nearly the entire F-series line, from F150s to F650s, is now available in a natural-gas-ready version as are the Transit and E-series work vans. GM has taken a more incremental approach, with fewer models available so far, but the industry has responded by creating aftermarket EPA-certified upgrades for nearly every GM truck and SUV on the market.

Most of this new technology remains aimed squarely at the work-truck market, exactly where it ought to be focused. This segment drives the most miles, drives the biggest vehicles, and burns the most fuel.

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