Liquefied gas supplier Gasrec displayed the UK’s first dedicated Euro-6 gas-powered HGV on its stand at the CV Show 2015, which took place on 14-16 April.
The Scania tractor unit recently entered service with Argos and Gasrec said it has already been trialled by a number of other leading retail and logistics companies.
Plated at 40 tonnes GTW, the unit is equipped with Scania’s nine-litre, Euro-6 engine. Delivering 340hp (250kW) at 1,900rpm and 1,600Nm of torque between 1,100rpm and 1,400rpm. The engine is designed to operate solely on gas (compressed or liquefied) and offers a high thermal efficiency of 40%.
Argos will initially run five of the gas-powered trucks from its base at Magna Park in the Midlands. With an expected range of up to 450km, the vehicles will run on daily return to base operations filling up at a new open access refuelling station that Gasrec will launch later this year at Lutterworth.
They currently use Gasrec’s open access refuelling station at Dirft in Daventry.
Gasrec’s stand highlights the growth in popularity of liquid and compressed natural gas vehicle fuels and the increasingly strategic infrastructure supporting them across the UK road network.
At the CV Show, the company also displayed the UK’s first Daf Euro-6 dual-fuel heavy goods vehicle, an XF Euro-6, 12.9-litre, 460hp small midlift.
Dieselgas (formerly Prins Autogas), which shared the Gasrec stand, is the first company to successfully convert the new Daf Euro-6 vehicle to run on dual fuel (compressed natural gas and diesel).
Experts from both companies were on hand to answer questions about gas technology and conversions.
A version of this story was first published on Commercialmotor.com.