Volkswagen Group and its industry partners from the gas supply, network, and filling station operation showcased their products and services at the 3rd CNG Mobility Days in Berlin (25-26 June 2019), presenting an overview of the current situation and the future of CNG. Volkswagen Group brands will also be exhibiting their latest CNG models in the passenger car, truck and bus segments.
In parallel with the advancing electrification of its fleet, Volkswagen Group and its brands continue to rely on compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative drive technology for decarbonising road transport, and the product range has been revised and expanded again with this in mind.
Volkswagen Group currently offers the widest selection of CNG vehicles of any manufacturer, by a substantial margin. At the annual general meeting in mid-May 2019, Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, announced that CNG will continue to play an important role for the Group in the future: “We are the global market leader for gas drive systems, and better positioned than our competitors. We also plan to continue further expanding and improving this technology.”
Using CNG as an energy source for automobiles meaningfully contributes to reducing emissions, as well as representing a cost-efficient customer alternative to petrol and diesel. “Volkswagen is committed to the Paris Climate Agreement. CNG has an important role to play in the alternative drive systems strategy that runs alongside the Group’s electrification offensive. It is sufficiently proven, immediately available, efficient and cost-effective. Furthermore, CNG cars are not affected by driving bans in city centres,” explains Stephen Neumann, Volkswagen Group Representative for CNG Mobility. He adds: “Refuelling with biomethane or e-gas results in an even better CO2 balance. Biomethane is obtained from organic residues, while e-gas is produced from excess green electricity (power-to-gas).
Both can easily be fed into the gas network and mixed with any amount of fossil natural gas.” Volkswagen Group brands and their industry partners have been working in this field for some time; Audi has been operating the world’s first industrial power-to-gas plant in Werlte (Emsland) since 2013, for example, with the Audi e-gas produced from wind power being fed into the natural gas grid – making Audi both a participant and a catalyst in the energy revolution. Green energy is made available to vehicle customers, while at the same time the storage of fluctuating eco-power and its research in practice enables the rapid expansion of wind and solar energy, which is also important to the success of e-mobility.
Source: Volkswagen Group