© ChevroletChevrolet Cruze – not afraid of any type of fuelThe CNG industry is gaining momentum on the other side of the Atlantic. Large companies convert their fleets from diesel to natural gas, market for light and medium commercial vehicles is growing bigger, and recently first signs of life could also be spotted in the passenger cars sector. Honda Civic Natural Gas – for a long time a lone ranger in this field – has recently been joined by Chevrolet Impala with a factory CNG conversion, and now it will also be possible to buy Cruze powered by natural gas. Or rather buy the petrol version of Cruze and upgrade it to gas.
Impco developed their system to adapt cars with a 4-cylinder 1.4 turbo engine. The methane tank was manufactured by Worthington, and it belongs to a family of modern, light type III cylinders (aluminum with carbon fiber braid). Unfortunately, low weight does not compensate for the fact that the driver and the passengers have only half the capacity of the trunk left at their disposal, but the car is supposed to go for more than 320 kilometers without refueling, which is quite a decent result. The system also includes Bosch injectors and a GFI pressure regulator.
Impco declares that it will keep on developing a dedicated installation for Cruze in parallel with the car, so that it can be used also in models manufactured in subsequent years (up to MY 2016). And although the system (the first among 2014 passenger cars to be certified by the EPA) will only be available as a conversion kit in the secondary market, there is probably an agreement between its manufacturer and the General Motors which will allow brand new Cruzes to be converted without the loss of warranty. It’s rather hard to imagine that someone would offer a system for cars that cannot yet be converted…
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