New VW Golf now available to order with natural gas drive
22 October 2020
The new VW Golf is now also available in certain markets with natural gas drive: the Golf TGI is equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with 96 kW / 130 PS and three natural gas fuel tanks. The tanks are integrated into the underbody and permit a range of around 400 kilometers (WLTP) in pure natural gas mode.
The engine of the quasi-monovalent drive system is powered primarily with CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), but can also run on gasoline. The total CNG tank capacity is currently 115 liters or 17.3 kg and permits a driving radius of a good 400 kilometers (249 miles) in the WLTP cycle. The Golf TGI is also equipped with a gasoline tank with a useful capacity of 9 liters (2.4 gallons)—this is essentially a reserve tank in case the natural gas should run empty.
WLTP fuel consumption is 4.3–4.1 kg of natural gas per 100 kilometers in combination with CO2 emissions of 117–111 g/km. The new 1.5L TGI engine in the Golf operates according to the innovative Miller cycle principle, a combustion process that achieves low carbon emissions thanks to its high efficiency and a compression ratio of 12.5:1. At the same time, a turbocharger with variable turbine geometry increases the charge pressure and supplies more air to the cylinders. This allows the Golf TGI to accelerate powerfully from low engine speeds at any time.
Driving in CNG mode produces around 25% fewer carbon emissions than with gasoline. Refueling with biomethane or e-gas results in an even better carbon balance. Biomethane is obtained from waste plant matter, while e-gas is produced from excess green electricity (power-to-gas). These are added to the fuels.
Natural gas also generally combusts with lower emissions than gasoline or diesel. The exhaust gas contains significantly less carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides (NOx), while the share of soot or particulates is minimal.
Why not LPG? Those are ubiquitous in Europe
Posted by: dursun | 22 October 2020 at 03:07 PM
I thought NG is more expensive in Europe than in the U.S.
Posted by: SJC | 22 October 2020 at 08:19 PM
SJC:
Gasoline/Diesel has a tax above $5 a U.S. gallon (adjusted from liters).
Don't know about LNG.
Plus the Euro oil companies gather subsidies of about 55 billion a year while the U.S. fuel companies enjoy subsidies from the U.S. tax payer of about 16 billion a year. We all are being robbed blind by politicians hired by big oil. It's been estimated that the total subsidies for the oil industry approached one trillion dollars.
Posted by: Lad | 22 October 2020 at 09:28 PM
Natural gas engines are only promoted because VW are allowed to feed in a certain amount of 'zero-emission' synthetic natural gas into the German natural gas network and thereby count these vehicles as zero emission. This in turn enables them to sell more high-power Audi A6 or similar with greater profit while maintaining a fleet-average of 95 gCO2/km.
While natural gas undoubtedly produces less emissions than diesel, it takes only a 1% leakage rate of the natural gas - at any point in the value chain to generate worse climate effects than diesel or gasoline engines.
Posted by: Thomas Pedersen | 23 October 2020 at 01:07 AM