One of the cars arriving in Paris for the International Auto Show this week has an interesting story to tell: It was driven 1,000 kilometres from Barcelona fueled with compressed natural gas, for under €45.
With diesel cars losing popularity in Europe and gasoline power under attack for pollution as well, electric cars have gotten the lion’s share of publicity and support as replacements, but Spanish carmaker SEAT is betting there’s a future for the fuel that’s powering many city buses as well. It’s introducing new CNG models at the Paris show, including an SUV.
As more cities introduce restrictions, either full-time or on bad-air days, the market for environmentally-efficient cars that are usually exempted from most of the restrictions is becoming more important. The EU has officially recognized CNG cars in that category, and SEAT hopes that will boost sales. One advantage of CNG over electric is that refills are as fast as fueling a conventional car.
SEAT itself is owned by Volkswagen group, and exports 80% of its cars to other countries. With VW deeply embroiled in the aftermath of ‘dieselgate’ and with allegations of false information about some of its gas-powered cars, SEAT’s lead in CNG development might prove important to VW as well.
