-
- 04 Oct
Home CNG filling stations will fuel growth in CNG vehicles
Home CNG filling stations have been available for years, but at an up-front cost of $6000 and a four year payback, unit sales have been tiny and the technology has not caught on across mainstream America.
But GE, Whirlpool and Eaton are working on new home filling units that could cut the cost down to $500. And that has the attention of Honda, the auto company currently offering one of the only CNG powered passenger cars in the US.
CNG is now priced at $1.40 per gallon, and CNG powered passenger cars have a driving range of 200 miles, far better than most electric vehicles currently on the market.
While there are over 120,000 gasoline stations across the US, there are currently only 605 CNG stations open to the public in the US. But if in the next few years these affordable home CNG filling stations become mainstream, and more CNG powered vehicle offerings become available, there will be an increased CNG market available for fuel retailers to tap in to as more drivers away from home will be looking for a CNG fill-up.
As I wrote last year, GE announced at the 2012 NACS show a “CNG in a box” offering for fuel retailers, providing an opportunity for margins even higher than in the store. On the east coast of the US, there is a coming CNG highway planned to extend from Pennsylvania to West Virginia. Retail stations providing CNG are growing in number in Georgia.
Fuel retailers need to keep a close watch as this CNG infrastructure grows in size across the US, and decide when it makes sense to add CNG to their product portfolio, and take advantage of the fuel margins the opportunity offers.
Comments are closed.
