Heavy-Duty Natural Gas Vehicles More Economical to Operate than Diesel, According to New National Report

This report assesses the future life-cycle costs (LCC) of owning, operating and maintaining comparable emission diesel and natural gas heavy-duty engines for three heavy-duty applications. TIAX LLC estimated the LCCs for diesel and natural gas heavy-duty vehicles that meet the stringent 2010 EPA/CARB emission requirements. Applications analyzed were refuse haulers, transit buses, and short-haul trucks.

The key findings of this report are highlighted below:

•   The study shows that natural gas vehicles will be highly competitive with diesel LCCs when considering comparable vehicles that meet 2010 emission requirements.

•   The modeled future LCCs do not show a clear preference for one fuel choice over the other in the applications analyzed. This is significant finding, given that 2004 emission diesel engines have a significant cost advantage over natural gas currently.

•   Post 2010, natural gas refuse haulers, transit buses, and short-haul trucks will have lower LCCs when oil prices are greater than $31 per barrel (2005$).

•   Projections of diesel vehicle costs have a higher range of variation than natural gas vehicle (NGV) costs due to the uncertainty in the diesel engine technology and emission control equipment needed to meet the performance demands of 2010 heavy-duty applications.

The study results are predicated on the existence of 2010 natural gas and diesel technologies capable of meeting stringent 2010 EPA/CARB standards. Other sensitive parameters included the level of NGV market penetration, the cost of emission control technologies for both fuels, price ratio between compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel, and the price ratio between liquefied natural gas (LNG) and CNG.

All are explained more in the full report at: www.cngvp.org.