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Volkswagen Introduces Natural Gas Caddys
23 July 2006
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| The Caddy Ecofuel. |
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) is introducing natural gas versions of its Caddy van in both cargo and passenger (Caddy Life) models.
The Caddy EcoFuel, first shown at the Frankfurt auto show in 2005 (earlier post) uses a 2.0-liter engine that delivers 80 kW (109 hp) of power, 160 Nm (118 lb-ft) of torque, and a driving range of 430 kilometers (267 miles).
Fuel consumption for the Euro-4 compliant van is 6 kilograms of natural gas/100 kilometers (about 26 mpgge US), with CO2 emissions of 158 g/km.
The Caddy EcoFuel uses what Volkswagen calls a quasi-monovalent approach: optimized for operation on natural gas, it has a small 13-liter (3.4 gallons US) tank for gasoline operation. The engine always starts using gasoline.
The engine has a relatively high compression ratio (13.5:1) for operating with natural gas. When running on gasoline, the ignition point is delayed and the throttle butterfly setting adjusted to compensate for the high compression.
Four storage tanks hold 26 kg of natural gas, and are located in the rear under the floor. The underfloor storage maximizes interior space for cargo or passengers.
(A hat-tip to John Baldwin!)
July 23, 2006 in Europe, Natural Gas | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
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Vehicles fueled via excess hydrocarbon gas emissions from landfills, (and possibly captured from melting permafrost in the future) there could be a substantial and sustained niche class. The engine tech is already matured, and the existing problems are solvable by relatively inexpensive, safe and environmentally benign solutions, for the most part.
Posted by: allen Z | July 23, 2006 at 10:04 AM
I like the whole concept of cars running on old fast food grease. The ultimate in recycling :)
Posted by: Chuck D | July 23, 2006 at 10:07 AM
We could make CO2 neutral biomethane
and pipe it straight to your home. You can refuel in your garage for $1 a gallon, have a full tank every morning and never have to visit a gas station again.
Posted by: sjc | July 23, 2006 at 10:45 AM
Note that the CO2 emissions of this vehicle is way short of the requirements imposed on european manufactueres. The average fleet consumtion must meet or exceed 140 g/km by 2008 and 120 g/km by 2012.
Now VW comes up with a NG engine still emitting way more CO2 than current production gasoline vehicles...
Actually, the CO2 emissions are just marginally better than the current production diesel, so the only positive would be the much reduced NOx and PM emissions.
How inefficient can you get?
Posted by: realarms | July 23, 2006 at 01:58 PM
I still feel strongly that the world should be concentrating it's efforts on BioDiesel.
Many vehicles can use it right now, without modification and the infrastructure/distribution system already exists.
Posted by: Lucas | July 23, 2006 at 02:05 PM
Kind of strange. NG engine has distinct advantage over gasoline at engine start and heating-up. NG does not have gasoline troubles to evaporate in cold engine, so overriching the mixture is not needed. This cut the HC pollution quite substantially, and reduces fuel consumption too. Other manufacturers manage to start NG engines without any troubles. Actually it is even easier at cold weather.
Posted by: Andrey | July 23, 2006 at 02:21 PM
allen Z and sjc: The supplies of waste-derived biomethane fall many times short of what aircraft would require, let alone motor vehicles. The price and ecological impact are determined at the margin; you need a substantial surplus of clean fuel to guarantee that the whole is earth-friendly.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | July 23, 2006 at 08:17 PM
26 mph (equivalent) and 158 g/Km CO2 is not very efficient nor environment friendly.
Would it do better in large up-to-date power plants + PHEVs, especially in our cities?
Posted by: Harvey D. | July 24, 2006 at 07:32 AM
Biomethane can be derived or synthesized. You can make syngas out of biomass using several technigues. Once there is an even larger market for methane and the economics of importing LNG in tankers becomes obvious, making methane out of syngas may prove cost effective.
Posted by: sjc | July 24, 2006 at 10:55 AM
Engineeer-Poet,
"The supplies of waste-derived biomethane fall many times short of what aircraft would require, let alone motor vehicles."
_
_I said niche. We also did not mention aircraft. Additionally, if Swedes could pull off the shift over to biomethane, then there could be an source.
Posted by: allen Z | July 24, 2006 at 02:07 PM
Dear Sir,
Iam intrested in this car. please send me the technical details of this car's engineand machanism because i have an idea to create more benificial this car. also i want to use this car personaly. please send me some grafical vidioes of this car.and how can you available me this in india. please send me earliar.
Bhaskar A. Vyas
Posted by: Bhaskar | June 17, 2008 at 08:13 AM