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Ford to offer F-150 pick-up that can run on compressed natural gas

Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:00am EDT

By Deepa Seetharaman
    DETROIT, July 31 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co, the
second-largest U.S. automaker, will offer this fall an F-150
pickup truck that can run on compressed natural gas to take
advantage of the resurgence in truck demand.
    The move also allows Ford to capture consumers' interest, as
rivals General Motors Co and Fiat SpA's Chrysler
Group LLC sell revamped versions of their trucks to U.S. car
shoppers. Ford is expected to introduce its overhauled truck
next year. 
    U.S. demand for trucks is quickly growing, stoked by
strength in the housing and oil industries. U.S. sales of
full-size pickups are increasing at almost three times the pace
of the overall industry. 
    The appeal of compressed natural gas as an alternative to
gasoline is its relatively low price and growing abundance,
thanks to fracking, but a lack of refueling stations is a
liability.
    The cost of a 2014 F-150 with a 3.7-liter V6 engine that can
run on both natural gas and gasoline can cost nearly $10,000
extra, depending on fuel-tank capacity.
    "With the money saved using CNG, customers could start to
see payback on their investment in as little as 24 to 36
months," said Jon Coleman, Ford fleet sustainability and
technology manager.
    Ford said CNG sells for an average of $2.11 per gallon of
gasoline equivalent. The national average for unleaded regular
fuel is $3.66 per gallon, the company said.
    The F-150 is Ford's eighth vehicle in its CNG-ready lineup.
Ford also offers this option in its Transit and E-Series vans as
well as its F-350 trucks.
    The automaker said it is "on pace" to sell more than 15,000
CNG-equipped vehicles, up 25 percent from 2012. One recent
client was communications company AT&T, which bought 650
F-350 trucks with the CNG option.
 
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Comments (6)
Labile wrote:
While this may sound good, compressed natural gas will be cheaper, but you will use more of it to get the same mileage as a gallon of regular gasoline. N.G. is less energy dense than gasoline so it can’t give you more energy to run your car or truck, but rather less. Also, as we start to use more N.G., we will deplete the sources faster, thereby causing a rise in the price of N.G. as it is used in heating our homes, manufacturing, transportation, Etc. The low prices being toted now, will rise because we will be using N.G. at rates higher than we do today. So, the price will eventually follow the economic tradition of, ” supply and demand”. As demand goes up, so will the cost.

It is the same with alcohol. It is less dense than gasoline so it gives you less energy per gallon. If you put a gallon of gasoline in a car, and a gallon of alcohol in another car of the same weight and model, you will run out of fuel in the alcohol powered vehicle long before the gasoline powered car does.

Jul 31, 2013 11:16am EDT  --  Report as abuse
DigitalBob wrote:
Assuming their numbers and 20mpg, break even seems to be around 140,000 miles. Good idea but too expensive.

Jul 31, 2013 11:52am EDT  --  Report as abuse
Squally24 wrote:
What an uninformed article… Yes, CNG is cheaper by the gallon, but what kind of mileage does the truck get on CNG compared to gasoline or diesel? And why CNG? There are cleaner, greener fuel sources out there, and you know Ford can afford to produce them. It’s because they’re in bed with the oil companies, who by the way are the ones producing the CNG.

Jul 31, 2013 11:57am EDT  --  Report as abuse