Press Release
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Natural gas cuts fuel costs in half
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Touran EcoFuel has four underfloor tanks that preserve full cargo capacity
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Emissions: Nitrogen oxides reduced 80 %, hydrocarbons reduced 73 %
Starting this year Volkswagen is offering two compact vans with natural gas engines: The latest version of the Touran presented recently and the Caddy. Both vans are powered by a strong 80 kW / 109 HP (at 5,400 rpm) four-cylinder engine. Consider the Touran: This multi-talented van can also be driven with gasoline. Designed as a ???????????????????????????????????quasi single fuel???????????????????????????????? natural gas vehicle, the gasoline power source serves primarily as a reserve. Switching over to conventio????????????????????nal fuel when the natural gas tank is empty (residual pressure approx. 6 bar) is automatic and is indicated in the display above a separate fuel gauge. In pure natural gas operation the car??????????????????????????????????????s range is approx. 310 kilometers; then the van can be driven further with gasoline or to one of the 716 natural gas stations in Germany (as of December 2006). Generously sized lines and valves enable fast and quiet refueling. As a result, in regular refueling cycles the time spent at the pumps is comparable to that of a gasoline vehicle.
On average the new Touran EcoFuel consumes approx. 5.8 kg per 100 kilometers. Today one ???????????????????????????????????natural gas kilometer??????????????????????????????????? in Germany costs about half of a ???????????????????????????????????gasoline kilometer????????????????????????????????. In addition, numerous energy providers and municipalities are financially subsidizing the purchase of natural gas vehicles.
No compromises in utility
The Touran EcoFuel was a custom development by Volkswagen. The van??????????????????????????????????????s four natural gas tanks are integrated in a spacesaving design as underfloor solutions (18 kg); therefore they do not restrict variability of either the passenger cabin or cargo spaces. This also preserves the option of configuring the Touran EcoFuel with seven seating positions. In this interesting vehicle concept and in the Caddy EcoFuel developed in parallel, Volkswagen is offering clean answers to a significantly increased demand for vehicles offering this environmentally friendly and economical powertrain technology.
Considerably lower emissions
In natural gas operation the Touran EcoFuel??????????????????????????????????????s engine, which exhibits optimal efficiency at its high 13.5:1 compression ratio, develops a maximum torque of 160 Newton-meters (at 3,500 rpm). In gasoline operation the high compression is ???????????????????????????????????compensated???????????????????????????????? by backing off on ignition timing and the throttle valve setting. The 1,984 cm3 four-cylinder engine powers the van to a top speed of 180 km/h. It reaches 100 km/h in 13.5 seconds. When the EcoFuel engine is operated in natural gas mode it generates 80 percent less carbon monoxide than a comparable gasoline engine, and achieves an 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides, 73 percent reduction in methane-containing hydrocarbons and 23 percent reduction in carbon dioxide. By the way, the engine is always started in gas mode; only at temperatures below 15 C. are cold starts performed in gasoline mode.
Best in safety
The steel tanks of the Touran EcoFuel were tested intensively in crash test ????????????????????programs. Electronic shut-off valves automatically interrupt the supply of natural gas when the engine is shut off, in gasoline mode and in case of a crash. Besides their electromechanical shut-off valves, the gas cylinders also have an integrated thermal safety switch and a flow restrictor that prevent uncontrolled pressure drop in case of damage to a line. In addition to the check valve integrated in the refueling connector, another check valve is redundantly integrated in the first of the four underfloor gas cylinders, which prevents back flow of the gas from the cylinder. Consequently, there are no safety-relevant differences between this van and one powered entirely by diesel or gasoline.
Natural gas is an economical fuel
The German federal government supports natural gas fuel by levying an exceedingly reduced tax rate ??????????????????????????????????????? it amounts to just a few percent of tax rates for diesel and gasoline. By law this tax rate applies until the end of 2018. At German gas stations one kilogram of natural gas, which in energy content corresponds to about 1.5 kilograms of gasoline, sold for an average of 82 euro cents in October 2006. This means that compared to gasoline fuel costs are halved, and in comparison to diesel they are reduced by 30 percent. When a natural gas car is purchased many regional natural gas providers issue fuel certificates with a value equivalent to as much as 1,000 kilograms of natural gas.
CNG as a fuel is on the rise in Germany. The gas station network totaled 716 stations in December. The goal for 2007 is to reach 1,000 fueling locations, and in 2008 there should be 1,300 stations. The target: A maximum distance of 20 kilometers between natural gas refueling stations. Cost, fuel efficiency and emissions advantages are also making natural gas vehicles more and more successful. In this context, the Caddy EcoFuel is the best-selling vehicle of its type in Germany. Most recently the second generation of the Touran EcoFuel is also revving up across Germany.
