2012 has already been named the year of green. All automakers are trying to cut fuel consumption, but a solution that is sometimes overlooked is natural gas-powered vehicles, “One of the most important advantages of natural gas is that it’s renewable and extremely clean burning when used in internal combustion engines. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, exhaust emissions from NGVs are much lower than those of gasoline-powered vehicles.”
This year Chrysler plans to start producing and selling natural gas-powered pickup trucks. Unlike competitors, struggling with the frustrations of battery-powered models, these trucks won’t need constant charging to maintain their power, but they will still vastly reduce the carbon footprint, or tire tread left behind. These new Chrysler truck engines also use more affordable technology, because the additional cost for an engine using natural gas is $3,000, compared with $3,300 for diesel and $8,000 for an electric hybrid.
“We are going to bring them here, there is no doubt,” Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of Chrysler, said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Sales will be “limited at first. It depends upon the distribution network.”
The only hurdle left in the plan is the semi-limited number of outlets for refueling with natural gas. The International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles says on its website that there were 1,000 stations and 112,000 natural-gas vehicles in the U.S. as of December 2010. But that should change as this advanced technology becomes more widely used in the automotive world.
In Peoria, used Chrysler vehicles hold their value, and soon the new natural gas trucks will hold out gas mileage longer.
