A pickup truck with an LNG tank? That’s very cool.

Expect a few double-takes at the Westport booth during the ICUEE Demo Expo in Louisville this week, when we debut a very ‘cool’ prototype: a Ford F-550 bi-fuel operating on gasoline or liquefied natural gas (LNG). You read that right – LNG.

This concept vehicle is believed to be the first of its kind, and will feature the Westport™ iCE PACK LNG Tank System, designed for use with spark ignited vehicles. Westport currently produces the Westport™ WiNG Power System, which is also bi-fuel, but uses compressed natural gas or gasoline.

“This would be a vehicle for companies that want to operate purely on LNG, because they’ve got both heavy duty and light duty fleets.” says John Howell, Senior Director of Marketing and Business Development at Westport. “It’s a prototype and would appeal to a very specialized type of customer, because not everyone will need this.”

Current industry standard systems require warm (saturated) LNG. The Westport iCE PACK offers fuel-flexibility with the ability to carry both cold and warm LNG. By carrying fuel as cold LNG, it can extend fuel storage times and improve vehicle range by up to 10 percent.

Assembled at Westport’s technical centre in Plymouth, Michigan, the concept vehicle features a lengthened service body and 70 gallon tank. While Westport iCE PACK was originally developed as a product for Class 8 over the road vehicles – and optimized for the Cummins Westport ISX12 G engine – the idea for this configuration was raised by a major fleet company currently using LNG, who were interested to see if it could be done.

“It was an opportunity for Westport to demonstrate our ability to innovate and be flexible,” says Steve Anderson, Vice President of Business Development at Westport. “In the past, this wasn’t an option for light duty vehicles, but with iCE PACK we now have a low pressure LNG system. We’re interested to see what kind of interest there is from other fleets similar to our prototype partner.”

Visiting the Demo Expo? Come by and see us at Booth N2001.

Building Your Business Case for Natural Gas: A Case Study - Westport Webinar

Ten months ago, Mark Huff, president of Tri-Star Construction in Tulsa, Oklahoma, started making the switch to natural gas vehicles for his fleet. He estimates that in less than one year, it’s saved his business about 40 percent in fuel costs.

As his natural gas fleet is less than a year old, Mark says he’ll have a better idea what the overall savings are once he completes a full tax year. Still, he believes it’s making a difference to his bottom line, and that it could eventually mean big savings for his company and his customers.

“Anything we can do to save, we’ll pass along to our customers,” he says. “We sometimes do $1 million to $2 million jobs, and if you can shave one to two percent off bids, that’s big money. It’s a win for everyone.”

On October 10, Mark will be sharing his experience in a free Westport webinar, Building Your Business Case for Natural Gas: A Case Study. Before switching to natural gas, Mark spent about six months crunching the numbers and assessing if natural gas was the right option for his fleet of Ford F-250s.

During the webinar, Mark will outline the process he undertook and the analytics he used in order to make a decision that was best for his business and his customers.

“I went to a compressed natural gas (CNG) summit where several businesses in Tulsa that had already adopted CNG were speaking” Mark says about his first step towards adopting a natural gas fleet. “Everybody who’s made the change is positive.”

Another ongoing benefit Mark has seen – literally – from operating a natural gas fleet, which includes four Westport WiNG™ Power System bi-fuel Ford F-250s, is a reduced cost in maintenance. For instance, he believes his trucks need far fewer oil changes than those running purely on gasoline.

“We’ve been draining the oil at 3,000 miles and it looks brand new,” Mark explains. “I’ve seen the oil at 5,000 miles and it looks brand new. They run so clean that I’d be confident saying they could go 7,000 miles between oil changes. It’s another perk.”

If you’re considering the shift to natural gas and would like to hear about a real-life case study, please register for this free webinar here.

Europe’s Natural Gas Vehicle Industry Stakeholders Meet this November in Amsterdam

European stakeholders across the supply chain are preparing for the 2nd Annual Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Conference and Exhibition on November 25-26 in Amsterdam. This is Westport’s second year at the event and we’re excited to have another opportunity to encourage expanding Europe’s NGV market.

Along with promoting natural gas as a viable transportation fuel, this year’s NGV Conference and Expo will have a strong focus on informing fleet customers of the benefits that switching to natural gas can bring to their businesses.

Westport’s Director of Market Development, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Nadège Leclercq says, “We like the idea of fleet operators being better informed about the possibilities and advantages of using natural gas as a vehicle fuel, because today most of the transportation companies are not aware. At this event they will be able to learn from major European companies that are already using natural gas vehicles. We believe it will be very valuable to share this experience.”

Contributing to this goal is Gordon Exel, Westport’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Americas and EMEA, who’ll be speaking at the conference. Attendees will also hear expert insights and outlooks from organisations such as Volvo Trucks, Gazprom Export, Daimler AG and the European Commission among many other key market players.

The event’s aim is to provide solutions for Europe’s transportation industry and show fleet organisations how to effectively and seamlessly integrate natural gas fuel into their operations.

Fleet owners and operators will learn about important gas engine technology updates and current investments in expanding the fuelling infrastructure network from senior level attendees representing the leading fleets, gas producers, utilities, fuel distributors and infrastructure developers. Owners and operators will also have a chance to connect with other transportation and fleet companies who’ve already made the switch to natural gas-fuelled fleets.

The demand for NGVs and infrastructure is growing, and with Europe’s increasingly stricter emissions standards, the NGV conference is more pertinent than ever. NGVs can significantly contribute to Europe’s CO2 emission reduction objectives. In January 2013, the European Commission announced plans for a network of compressed and liquefied natural gas refuelling stations covering the whole European Union.

Don’t wait… Mark your calendar and visit the Natural Gas Vehicle Conference website to register for the event!