Volvo and Shell sign agreement for LNG truck

Volvo Trucks and Shell will cooperate globally on utilizing liquefied natural gas as a fuel for commercial heavy duty trucks.

The collaboration agreement is underway and the companies say work has begun with the first stage focused on selected markets in central Europe and the US.

Natural gas is today used in compressed form (CNG) in city buses and smaller commercial vehicles. However, to perform long-haul assignments the vehicle must be able to carry a larger amount of fuel on board. This is made possible if the engine can run on LNG since the gas has a smaller volume in liquefied form.

The Volvo FM MethaneDiesel (pictured) is equipped with methane-diesel technology and uses liquefied gas as its main fuel. The proportions are up to 75 percent gas and 25 percent diesel, depending on the type of transport and driving cycle, Volvo says. Its driving range is about 1,000 km on gas, and it can run on both LNG and liquefied biogas.

The truck is already available in Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK and its market roll-out is expanding into Italy and France.