CNG vehicles drive most kilometers

According to a statistical analysis by the Dutch national statistics agency (CBS) CNG vehicles are driven the longest distance annually. Although CNG vehicles contribute only 0,2% to all distances traveled, they on average travel a distance of 26,400 km per year. Second place is diesel vehicles which drive 23,000 km/year. CNG is popular with people who drive much because they have low cost per kilometer and are more suitable for long range driving than electric vehicles.

Nissan develops range extender on ethanol and natural gas

Nissan is developing a new drive train consisting of an electric vehicle equipped with a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) range extender. Nissan aims to bring the technology to market in fleets by 2020. The test runs on bio-ethanol but other fuels such as natural gas can also be used. The fuel is reformed on-board to create hydrogen which is then used in a solid oxide fuel cell.

SO fuel cells more affordable than PEM fuel cells currently used in hydrogen vehicles as they don't require platinum catalysts. Bio-ethanol and natural gas/biogas are also cheaper than hydrogen and require much lower infra structure investments.

The downside of SO fuel cells are the high operating temperature which leads to higher start-up times. Also the reformer has long response times, which limits the use of SO fuel cells in vehicles to range extenders and APUs.

2014 good year for CNG in the Netherlands

Figures published by Aumacon show that CNG / green gas vehicles were the most popular alternative fueled vehicles in the Netherlands in 2014.

The largest vehicle category in the Netherlands in terms of sales remains the traditional gasoline car. 248,796 of these were sold in 2014. This is a drop of 6% compared to 2013. Traditional gasoline cars are slowly losing ground.
Diesel cars sales were better. 105,102 were sold in 2014, a growth of 1,5%.

The third category in the Netherlands in terms of sales is the hybrid vehicle (including plug-in hybrids and range extended electric vehicles). Compared to the top year 2013 sales decreased by 38% as a result of reduced fiscal stimulation. Despite this (as I wrote yesterday) the number of these vehicles on the road is still increasing.

Number four in the Netherlands in terms of cars on the road is LPG. Sales of LPG however are declining because the Dutch government no longer stimulates LPG despite verbally advocating its use. Sales dropped by 53% to 988. As a result the number of LPG vehicles on Dutch roads is decreasing. This is in sharp contrast to worldwide developments.

2014 was a great year for CNG / green gas vehicles. 3,232 CNG vehicles were sold, an increase of over 500% compared to 2013. Despite these impressive numbers CNG still has a long way to go to overtake LPG as the most popular alternative fuel.

Next are the fully electric cars. 2,982 of these were sold which is a 14% increase compared to 2013. Electric cars are slowly gaining market share.

Other than these fuels not much is happening in the Netherlands. When the first public hydrogen station was opened it was already known that the Dutch government would leased two Hyundai ix35's. No other hydrogen vehicles were registered in 2014.

The sale of cars on ethanol has come to a near complete stop in 2014: only one was sold compared to 17 in 2013.

CNG popular alternative in the Netherlands

A prognosis released by Aumacon shows that CNG is an increasingly popular alternative vehicle fuel in the Netherlands in 2014. Sales of NGVs will jump from 530 to 2,500, a spectacular 372% increase.

Sales by fuel type 2013 2014 prognosis     +/-
Petrol              264,586           257,000     -3%
Diesel              103,557             82,500    -20%
Hybrid (incl. PHEV and EREV)
                        43,335              34,000   -22%
LPG (factory fitted)
                          2,081                1,500   -28%
EV                      2,619                2,500     -5%
CNG (bifuel)          530                 2,500 +372%
Biofuels                  17                        0 -100%
Hydrogen                  1                       2 +100%

Total               416,726             380,000

Although no reasons have been provided it seems that changes in tax measures have driven a shift towards CNG. CNG is called 'groen gas' (green gas) in The Netherlands as (almost) all gas sold at public CNG stations is made green by purchasing certificates for biogas injected in the gas grid. A recent agreement intends to ensure that all CNG sold will be green by 2015.
Stimulation measures for green gas have hold firm, while many other alternative fuels saw their incentives reduced (PHEVs and EVs) or excises raised (LPG). Also in recent years a green gas filling station network has been rolled out.

This is an updated translation of an old article I published in Dutch earlier.