GM Adds Natural Gas Option To Big Heavy-duty Pickups
General Motors announced on March 5 that it will make 2013 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500 HD extended cab pickup trucks that can run on both natural gas and gasoline.
Owners can easily switch between the two. The trucks use a Vortec 6-liter V-8 engine that transitions between compressed natural gas and gasoline fuel systems.
"The bi-fuel Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra provide customers with choices in advanced propulsion technology, and because CNG is a clean-burning, domestically produced fuel, it has wide appeal," said Ed Peper, General Manager of GM Fleet and Commercial Operations.
The so-called bi-fuel trucks are built with a specially designed engine from one of GM's suppliers. The trucks are available for order in April.
GM and Ford, among others, built cars that can run on natural gas in the 1990s, mostly for corporate fleets, but they disappeared. Now, several firms convert trucks to run on natural gas for fleets. Honda is the only maker that sells natural-gas powered cars for consumers, who pay a fraction for their fuel compared to gasoline. They are eligible for car-pool stickers in California, right along with electric vehicles.
The bi-fuel commercial trucks will be covered by GM's three-year, 36,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty and five-year. They will be built in Fort Wayne, IN, then finished at a supplier, which is installing the duel fuel system.