October 5, 2021. Quebec-based natural gas supplier EBI Energie emerged at the Expocam trade show with a compressed natural gas (CNG) powered Freightliner Cascadia incorporating a 4000 RDS Series Allison automatic transmission. And more than two dozen fleets have already registered to participate in multi-day tests with the truck over the next six months, to see how the new configuration will work in their particular operations.
“The way the CNG is injected in the engine with an automated manual transmission (AMT), it’s not very efficient. It’s not optimal because you keep stopping and re-initiating an injection,” explains Becher Mobayed, EBI Energie Director – Natural Gas for Transportation. But the Allison automatic uses a torque converter, so power is not interrupted while up shifting.
The truck’s 12-liter Cummins Westport ISX12N engine also draws on 175 diesel gallon equivalents (DGE) of fuel, delivering a range of between 800 and 1,000 km before refueling, and that may leave fleets to rethink where such trucks might find a home.
Since the refuse sector has been one of the biggest adopters of CNG equipment, many users mistakenly believe that natural gas trucks are only for that sector, says Richard Prevost, EBI Energie Sales Representative – Natural Gas for Transportation. “This kind of truck would be at its best to be on a linehaul run or a dedicated run, so you know where to go, you know where to fuel.”
The available fuel volumes can easily be customized as well. As many as 15 different setups can see the tanks mounted everywhere from the back of the cab to the frame rails, addressing wishes such as the need to maintain a window at the back of a day cab.
While there are few public chargers available to support battery-electric trucks, established CNG stations can also be found along the highway corridor linking Windsor, Ontario, and Quebec City.
“CNG in general is an alternative to diesel, a cleaner alternative to diesel, which is available today,” Prevost says. “And with renewable natural gas (RNG) we can even reach zero carbon – carbon neutrality.”