The growing popularity of natural-gas powered vehicles continues to gain momentum as Chrysler announced that its new Ram 2500 Compress Natural Gas (CNG) pickups are in full production mode at the company’s Saltillo truck assembly plant. That’s the good news.
The great news is that, in addition to fleet operators, retail buyers will be able to purchase the Ram 2500 CNG from local dealerships.
“We felt there was a strong likelihood that customer demand would allow us to offer the Ram 2500 CNG to retail as well as fleet buyers,” said Fred Diaz, President and CEO, Ram Truck Brand and Chrysler de Mexico, Chrysler Group LLC. “From the moment we unveiled the Ram CNG, dealers – particularly those near CNG refueling infrastructure – strongly encouraged us to bring CNG to their stores. We’re pleased that today Ram can deliver on that demand.”
Unlike other pickups, the 2012 Ram 2500 CNG comes factory-ready to run on natural gas. Currently, it is the only OEM-built compressed natural gas-powered pickup truck in North America. The Ram 2500 CNG uses compressed natural gas as its primary fuel source, but automatically switches to gasoline when the CNG tanks are emptied. In use, the Ram CNG transitions from one fuel to the other with little discernible difference in operation or capability.
CNG-powered trucks offer cost and emissions benefits, using an abundant, domestically sourced fuel, which reduces America’s dependence on foreign oil. CNG lessens the environmental impact of greenhouse gases and reduces smog-producing pollutants up to 90 percent. In vehicles, CNG achieves nearly identical mileage figures as unleaded regular gasoline at a retail cost more than 30 percent lower than the average price of a gallon of gasoline.
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