[wheelguy]

Compressed natural gas or CNG has been an area of focus for Maruti Suzuki for years. Since the first model with a factory-fit CNG kit rolled out in 2010, the carmaker has sold well over 5,00,000 units of its CNG cars. And with Maruti set to withdraw from diesels by April 1, 2020, the carmaker’s CNG line-up could just see a greater interest than before. At present, 6 Maruti cars are available with a CNG version, namely the Alto, Alto K10, Celerio, Wagon R, Eeco and Ertiga.

A point to note is that the aforementioned models are not powered by pure CNG engines but rather petrol-CNG bi-fuel units. In fact, bi-fuel engines based on existing spark-ignition petrol units and modified and re-calibrated for use with CNG are the norm in the industry. While a bi-fuel setup does allow the flexibility to run the car on either petrol or CNG, this arrangement brings with it certain compromises too. CNG performs at its best with a high compression ratio of 13:1 to 14:1, but most donor petrol engines have a significantly lower compression ratio. The Ertiga CNG’s 1.5-litre engine, for instance, runs a compression ratio of 10.5:1. Question is, does Maruti see potential in pure CNG models somewhere down the road?

“Well, we have been looking at it (pure CNG models),” says CV Raman, Senior Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki. He is quick to add, “Having said that, the (network of) CNG stations are still growing. So customer anxiety is still there and so a buyer would prefer a bi-fuel car. Ultimately, the people using CNG are using it also for the economics and it does make a lot of difference in terms of running costs. It has the lowest running costs. So if they have that, they should also have the peace of mind to, when they go out of Delhi or something like that, they are still able to run the vehicle.” Raman did hint the government’s plan to have 10,000 CNG filling stations by 2030 could provide the necessary push towards pure CNG. “If a lot of stations are there, then the range anxiety is not there and the queues are not there. The people can look at a dedicated CNG, so to speak. From an economics point of view, it’s very good,” Raman says.

Source: Autocar India

[Reinhard]

I don't see this happening. Lack of infrastructure (CNG supply points outside of cities) is not a constraint, its practically a nail in this coffin of this idea. CNG can only be accepted as a bi-fuel option by car owners. The peace of mind that the petrol capability of the car brings will always outweigh the benefits of a pure CNG car.

Looks like ACI had a free page to fill in the magazine & couldn't get ads in time.

[blackwasp]

I think MSIL should focus on larger sized CNG tanks, and innovative packing rather than purely CNG cars. Consider the pictures of the Mercedes Benz B Class Gas Drive. It has a claimed range of 500 km and a 125L gas tank - 2 small and 1 larger (WagonR CNG has a 60L for comparison). For such cars, even a 10-15L petrol tank is more than enough.

[landcruiser123]

Is this the news we get once big daddy Toyota is almost swallowing Suzuki? Forget diesel, LPG, and CNG. Is the government giving mixed signals (by promising 10,000 CNG stations by '30) or is it MSIL lobbying hard?

All manufacturers should move to pure electric drivetrains and bring in hybrid as a stop-gap arrangement.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Is this the news we get once big daddy Toyota is almost swallowing Suzuki? Forget diesel, LPG, and CNG. Is the government giving mixed signals (by promising 10,000 CNG stations by '30) or is it MSIL lobbying hard?

All manufacturers should move to pure electric drivetrains and bring in hybrid as a stop-gap arrangement.

It seems to be sheer lobbying my Maruti. CNG powered vehicles at best have range of 250km, have negligible boot space and you have to queue up for a long time to refuel. They are good only for intra city usage. As such, it is fairly obvious that mainstreaming of EVs will be the death kneel for CNG. Gas can’t even match the running cost of pure electric, and the engine will also need regular service unlike a maintenance free motor.

[silverado]

Maruti need not completely go CNG, it can have a small electric engine so that the car has an option in case of emergency.
The emphasis should be to project this car as a normal CNG car, by designing the CNG tanks and boot space available to end user.

[XRoader_001]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Is this the news we get once big daddy Toyota is almost swallowing Suzuki? Forget diesel, LPG, and CNG. Is the government giving mixed signals (by promising 10,000 CNG stations by '30) or is it MSIL lobbying hard?

All manufacturers should move to pure electric drivetrains and bring in hybrid as a stop-gap arrangement.

Bang on, Msil dilly dolly on diesel Bs6 and risking volume losses is a clear sign they are cooking something with Toyota.

Otherwise why would a manufacturer which has in house diesel engine ready will not make it Bs6 compliant isn't (Suzuki ddis)

For Toyota taking over Suzuki will make sure they remain as no.1 manufacturer in the world, in terms of volumes

For me,Toyota eventually taking over Suzuki and then both launching Hybrids in india as a replacement of diesels thus offering insane mileage and even if little costlier than diesel it wont matter

Hybrid is the need of the hour till a proper ev infra is built and shift takes place

[deehunk]

Volkswagen first spoke about it in September, I had shared some useful information about VW's CNG engine on this thread,
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...overnment.html (Volkswagen ready to bring CNG cars to India, seeks stable policy from government)

[GTO]

They can only dream about this. CNG, riding on the back of petrol engines, has been a terribly slow moving fuel option constituting less than 1% of car sales. If they were to take out the petrol & make it pure CNG, the cars will just gather dust in the showroom.

Maruti should save its time and focus on proper hybrids instead. Now they have married Toyota too, so hybrid tech is literally a cut-copy-paste exercise. A proper hybrid will be a super hit as it'll double the city fuel economy of its cars overnight.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by GTO

They can only dream about this.
Maruti should save its time and focus on proper hybrids instead.

CNG is not Maruti's territory, alternate fuel engines have evolved in other countries from a long time. Maruti should focus only on hybrids.