Blue Energy Motors unveils India’s first LNG-fuelled green truck

Blue Energy Motors, a two-year old start-up backed by a Singapore-based firm, has unveiled India’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fuelled green truck in Chakan near Pune.

The trucks are powered by Iveco FPT, global powertrain brand of Iveco Group. The company claimed that the engines generate high torque and help trucks deliver best in class TCO (total cost of ownership) and offer unmatched ride comfort and safety for the drivers for long hauls. The market entry of the LNG-fuelled trucks will start with the introduction of 5,528 4×2 tractors by the end of September.

Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport and highways, inaugurated the facility which has an installed capacity of 10,000 trucks annually.

Gadkari said: “This is the fuel for the future. “It’s cost effective and a change-maker for the transport sector. It is a great alternative to petrol and diesel at a time when we import so much.”

Anirudh Bhuwalka, chief executive at Blue Energy, responding to how these trucks will run given the almost non-existent LNG infrastructure, said: “These are long-haul trucks that can travel up to 1,400 kilometres in one fill.

“About 20 LNG stations are coming up and by next year this is expected to go up to 50 stations. Various public sector undertakings (PSU) and private oil and gas marketing companies are setting up these.”

The facility added that Bhuwalka is the company’s first step towards “pioneering the green trucking revolution.”

Mr Bhuwalka said: “We at Blue Energy Motors aim to decarbonise the environment by providing an immediate solution and breaking the barriers of economic returns.”

Mr Gadkari said with LNG, logistics cost can be reduced by 16 percent, adding that the idea is to bring it down further by 10 percent.

Mr Gadkari said: “We are making LNG and CNG from biomass in Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana. Within two years we will have more than 200 capacities in the country. Biofuel is the future, and we have a huge potential for export. It’s essential for the economy. The prospects for the industry are great and I am excited about the future, as we move towards reducing pollution.”

Prakhar Saxena, chief marketing officer, Blue Energy Motors, said: “This company has been formed with the understanding that we will be bringing to the market, based on green technologies such as LNG, hydrogen and electric.”

Blue Energy said in the statement that the FPT Industrial engine is one the most powerful natural gas engines in the market and is compatible with CNG, LNG and biomethane, using multipoint stoichiometric combustion to assure best-in-class fuel consumption and lower noise than diesel engines.

Sylvain Blaise, president of Iveco group powertrain business unit, said: “This agreement is of the utmost importance for FPT Industrial, now and in the future, as we want our leading technologies to play a key role to support the ecological transition of one of the world’s largest vehicle markets.”

For more information visit blueenergymotors.com