October 19, 2022. US and Canadian Class 8 natural gas truck retail sales for the first eight months of year outpaced the same period in 2021 by 18%, as published in the quarterly report, Alternative Fuels Quarterly, just released by ACT Research. Although retail sales of NG Class 8 trucks are up, fueling infrastructure continues to contract.
Sales of natural gas (NG)-powered vehicles, as reported by the six major truck OEMs, who account for approximately 60% of the heavy-duty (HD) NG market, were mixed in the June to August time period, with June dropping 33% y/y, July surging 204% compared to last July, and August up 20% versus a year ago,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. He continued, “In the near term, June was relatively benign compared to May (-4%), while July spiked 82% m/m. Unable to maintain, volumes pulled back 33% from July to August. Combined, sales in the three-month period extended and increased the ytd gain, with the first eight months of the year outpacing the same period in 2021 by 18%.”
Regarding fueling and charging infrastructure, Tam commented, “there were 822 public compressed natural gas (CNG) stations open in the US in mid-September 2022, the vast majority of which can accommodate a heavy-duty (HD) vehicle. The liquid NG (LNG) station count at the same period was 54, with all able to serve Class 8 vehicles. This translates to 15 fewer public CNG station and no change to the number of public LNG station since mid-June 2022.” He added, “Given the existing station count’s downward trajectory, it isn’t a surprise that planned CNG stations are also contracting. On a year-over-year basis, the number of planned private CNG stations was unchanged while planned public stations have declined more than 38%.”
Tam concluded with, “it is worth noting that private US stations also exist and are being planned. These currently include 4,572 existing stations and 6 planned sites, a decrease of 31 existing stations from last quarter, but we presume these are temporarily offline, rather than shuttered.”