Ford Puts Natural Gas Engine in F-150

The company’s most popular vehicle will have an optional compressed natural gas engine beginning with 2014 model year.

August 01, 2013

DEARBORN, Mich. – The most popular vehicle in Ford Motor’s lineup will be available with a compressed natural gas engine starting next model year, Forbes reports. While automobile manufacturers have been making big heavy-duty trucks with natural gas engines for a while, Ford is the first to offer that option in a half-ton pickup.

The F-150 pickup with a CNG engine will cost around $10,000 more than the gasoline version, but Ford said that expense should be recovered within a few years because of the lower cost of natural gas. CNG averages $2.11 per gallon, and can cost as low as a buck in some parts of the United States. The national average cost for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.66.

The company should sell 15,000 CNG-equipped vehicles in 2013, a 25% uptick over last year. Ford expects that number to skyrocket after the F-150 2014 version debuts in the fall. Kevin Koswick, director of Ford’s North American fleet, leasing and remarketing operations, said the CNG F-150 could clock up to 750 miles on one tank of gasoline, depending on which tank size. Currently, the pickup has an average of 23 miles per gallon on highway driving.

Ford Motor Company set a record for hybrid sales in the second quarter of 2013, with sales of 24,217 vehicles – up 517% over last year and up 15% over the first quarter of 2013 – as demand grows in markets across the United States. This is the first time the company sold more than 24,000 hybrids in a quarter. Ford’s share of the U.S. electrified vehicle market grew to nearly 16% percent in the first half of 2013 – a 12-point gain over last year.

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