- Can be driven on two fuels; Methane (compressed natural gas or biogas) and petrol.
- The emission levels when driving on compressed natural gas (CNG) are lower than in any
other Volvo car.
- It is easy to handle, the fuel selection is made by pushing a "gas" button on
the dash-board, the car automatically switches from gas to petrol when the tank is empty.
- Driving range on gas under favourable conditions is 240-290 km. Important parameters
are:
- gas temperature
- gas pressure
- gas quality
- and of course the driving cycle
Separate Filling Station
- The filler nipple is located
alongside the petrol filler cap.
- For safety reasons, it is not
possible to open the plate before the engine is stopped and it is not possible to start
the engine before the plate is closed again.
- It is easy and clean to fill up with
gas and it takes only 1-4 minutes depending on the filling station's capacity.
Volvo safety included
- All the natural gas equipment is
positioned in such a way that it does not conflict with the crumple zones.
- The tank is rated at 750 bar - more
than 3,5 times the actual working pressure.
- All interior gas equipment is
double-jacketed, which means that all the pipes, connections and valves are protected in
an air-tight safety casing.
- Methane gas is a non-toxic gas.
However, it has an unpleasant smell if a leakage occurs. It is lighter than air. if it
leaks, it disappears rapidly upwards.
- The safety system is designed to shut
off the natural gas supply automatically in the event of leakage. A valve cuts off the
supply if the engine stops or is driven on petrol.
Emissions
- The emission levels when driving on
compressed natural gas (CNG), are lower than in any other Volvo car.
Running emissions compared with petrol:
| Carbon
dioxide (CO2) |
24%
lower |
| Non
methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) |
82%
lower |
| Carbon
monoxide (CO) |
61%
lower |
| Nitrogen
oxide (Nox) |
55%
lower |
- When using biogas, the carbon dioxide
which is formed in combustion is part of the natural ecocycle and does not contribute to
the greenhouse effect. It actually reduces it, since the methane would otherwise leak into
the air from landfills, sewage plants and manure heaps.
- It is important to take the total
environment impact into consideration, while comparing different fuels. The impact of the
extraction, refinement, distribution in some cases have more negative impact than the
engine combustion.
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