CNG: ŠKODA SCALA and KAMIQ fuelled by natural gas

› New ŠKODA models feature particularly eco-friendly and efficient CNG drive
› Both models feature three steel CNG tanks and a nine-litre petrol tank; market launch before the end of this year

Mladá Boleslav / Frankfurt, 9 September 2019 – ŠKODA will be offering its SCALA compact car and KAMIQ city SUV as particularly eco-friendly and efficient natural gas (CNG) variants by the end of this year. The ŠKODA SCALA G-TEC and KAMIQ G-TEC are joining the OCTAVIA COMBI G-TEC already available and are designed for use with CNG. At the IAA 2019 in Frankfurt, ŠKODA will be presenting close-to-production studies of the two new G-TEC models.

Christian Strube, ŠKODA Board Member for Technical Development, said, “As part of our efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions, CNG will play a key role in ŠKODA’s mix of drive systems over the coming years. Due to the low emissions and comparatively low cost of CNG in many countries, our G-TEC models are becoming increasingly popular.”

In comparison to petrol and diesel, natural gas has a higher energy content, is cheaper and burns more cleanly. What’s more, engines running on CNG are quieter. Compared to petrol, CNG produces around 20 per cent less CO₂, significantly less nitrogen oxide (NO_x) and no soot particles. The ecological footprint is considerably improved yet again if biogas from waste water or agricultural production, or synthetically produced natural gas is used instead of CNG. And using renewable energy to extract the gas makes it particularly sustainable. Furthermore, vehicles that run on CNG can be refuelled just as easily and conveniently as petrol or diesel models.

The engine fitted in the SCALA G-TEC and KAMIQ G-TEC has been specifically designed to run on eco-friendly natural gas and its design has been adapted accordingly. It provides an efficient alternative to engines that run solely on petrol or diesel. The petrol in the additional nine-litre tank is only used to start the engine in specific situations, for example after refuelling with CNG, because the pressure in the tanks will have changed in the process and the quality of the CNG added is also automatically checked first. The engine will also start in petrol mode in external temperatures below -10°C or if the CNG system is running so low on fuel that the pressure in the tank falls below 11 bar. The petrol tank also acts as a fuel reserve, should there not be a CNG fuel station in range. The switch between petrol and CNG modes happens automatically without the driver having to do anything.

As CNG burns very cleanly without producing any particles, there is no need for a particulate filter. Compared to the standard 1.0 TSI and to allow it to run on CNG, the G-TEC has been equipped with different intake and exhaust cams, a revised cylinder head, a new induction tract as well as special injection nozzles suitable for use with CNG, and particularly heat-resistant exhaust valves. In addition, an electronic gas pressure regulator reduces the pressure of the gas in two stages: The first mechanically reduces the pressure in tanks from 200 bar to approximately 20 bar. In the second stage, a magnetic valve is used to lower the pressure to the absolute working level of between 5 and 9 bar prevalent in the low-pressure system.