Opel Astra Caravan 1.4 Turbo CNG - powerful prototype with natural-gas powered engine
Arlesheim (ots)
At the 75th Geneva International Motor Show, gasmobil/GVM and Rinspeed are exhibiting on stand 4131 in Hall 4, as a feasibility study, the attractive Astra Caravan with a 1.4 CNG monovalent plus drive. The combination vehicle fitted with a 1.4 litre turbo engine was designed, developed and built in cooperation with Opel Special Vehicles, Gasverbund Mittelland AG (GVM) and BRA GmbH, Opel's official installers of natural gas conversions.
The high-performance and flexible Caravan from Opel has a powerful engine delivering 135 bhp and reaches a top speed of over 200 km/h. Despite this level of performance, its natural gas powered engine makes it one of the most environmentally clean modes of transport. Its performance is based on the motor being optimised for natural gas that can fully exploit the high octane count of natural gas. As for the range of the monovalent plus with turbo, distances of over 700 km pose no problem, with the vehicle able to travel over 500 km on natural gas and more than 200 km using the petrol reserve tank. It was possible to reduce the consumption even while increasing performance by over thirty percent in comparison to Opel's 1.6 litre petrol engine, thereby combining sporting dynamism with low consumption in a very convincing manner.
Switzerland is one of the key combination-fuel markets in Europe. The statistics on new vehicle registrations show this clearly: in some model ranges the number of limousines sold is the same as the number of combination-fuel vehicles. This also applies to the Opel Astra. In combination with natural gas as a fuel, the Caravan is an interesting alternative for sporting families and modern-thinking fleet owners in particular. And at a time of continually increasing petrol prices the budget can be significantly lightened without giving up the sporting performance.
Contact:
Kurt Schmidlin, Executive Management
Untertalweg 32, P.O. Box 360
CH-4144 Arlesheim
Tel. +41/61/706'33'33
E-Mail: kurt.schmidlin@gvm-ag.ch
Internet: http://www.gvm-ag.ch
http://www.erdgasfahren.ch