The new year 2020 should bring the breakthrough for electromobility in Germany. At least that's the tenor that the industry is vehemently putting into the world. Nevertheless, we don't start the year here with a somehow electrified vehicle, but with a clean and comparatively cheap alternative. The fact that natural gas is treated rather neglectfully (i.e. marketed and advertised) despite the announcements to the contrary is also due to the compulsion to succeed that the electric car is now carrying. Keyword stepmother: Literally shortly before the gate closes, twelve months after the model change, Skoda brought another new model of its volume model Octavia in early 2019 CNG variant. The fact that we are now, a few weeks before the start of the fourth Octavia generation, are still dealing with this “old” car and its natural gas drive, is still not cold coffee. The powertrain, which is primarily at issue here, is also one to one in the new version of the Octavia be used.
12 liter petrol reserve for the way to the natural gas filling station
A larger main tank with a further optimized installation position would then be desirable, because that is basically the only weak point of the Octavia G-Tec, which was available to us as a combi for test purposes. Its trunk volume loses quite a bit of volume compared to the petrol and diesel models. Thanks to the underfloor installation of two gas tanks in the area of the spare wheel well, only 610 liters are available instead of 480, and the maximum volume is also smaller: 1.610 instead of 1.760 liters. That is still impressive, in daily use the loss of cargo space height is rather negligible. But the 130 liters that have been lost in the loading volume for the natural gas drive are not compared to a particularly large tank volume for natural gas. The Octavia can store just 17,7 kilograms of compressed natural gas (CNG) in its pressure-tight gas chambers, if the dispenser allows it. In addition, just under 12 liters are available as a petrol and reserve tank. This makes sense and is essential because, on the one hand, the natural gas filling station network - to put it mildly - is quite wide-meshed, and on the other hand, gasoline is still briefly required for a cold start. In the two weeks that we were allowed to drive the Octavia Combi G-Tec, it used around two liters of petrol. We really liked the solution of displaying the remaining volumes separately and permanently for both fuels and showing the ranges individually and as a total range.
Lower entry price compared to the somewhat stronger diesel
In the best case this was 610 kilometers. A value that electric cars dream of that, on the other hand, makes a diesel owner smile smugly. For the Skoda Superb with the 150 PS TDI, the on-board computer easily throws out more than 1.200 kilometers. The fact is, when it comes to range, diesel is unbeatable for frequent drivers, but that doesn't apply to costs. Anyone who has worked their way through at the official price of the natural gas Octavia, which is anything but simple - keyword neglected - will find an entry-level price of 30 euros. A diesel (800 TDI) at this level of equipment costs about 2.0 euros more, but also brings 2.500 hp more than the 20 hp G-Tec. The 130 liter TSI with 1,5 HP, which is the same size, costs almost 150 euros less than the natural gas version.
CNG does not have the same quality everywhere, but a stable price level
The natural gas variant scores highly at the pump, although a special feature of this fuel is its non-uniform quality. Our main tank, where the municipal utilities offer their natural gas, always delivered gas of 1,03 percent quality for 100 euros per kilogram, which is registered by the vehicle and reported on the display as soon as it is filled. However, along the German autobahns, we also filled up with 90 percent gas. And this lower energy content also means less range per kilogram. With the 100 gas, the on-board computer calculated consumption values of around 4 kilograms per 100 kilometers, which was almost exactly the ten percent less that was due with the 90 gas, which (truck stop) was also ten percent more expensive at 1,16 euros. In general, however, natural gas is far less subject to the arbitrariness of the tank network operator. There are no daily price changes here. The price level is not only significantly lower and more stable, but regionally also (relatively) uniform, as we could see on a tour from Westphalia to Bavaria and back through Baden-Württemberg and Hesse.
When calculated, the CNG variant is clearly cheaper than the diesel
In the best case, we could drive the Skoda G-Tec 4,20 kilometers for 100 euros. A Superb Combi moving in parallel with the 150 PS diesel and DSG needed 5,1 liters of diesel, for which around 6,10 euros were due at our gas station in December. That should actually bring a lot more frequent drivers to the arena. The subject of longevity does not speak against natural gas either. That was never an issue in conversations with taxi drivers at the gas pump. You have more time to talk because “our” natural gas column was not just a single one, it was also the only one within a radius of around 20 kilometers. Well frequented, and since a car needs about twice as long to refuel with natural gas as a petrol or diesel car does, the stops can take ten ten minutes or more, for example when a truck is refueling with gas.
CNG burns cleaner than gasoline or diesel
In addition to, perhaps before, pure cost accounting, the environmental balance sheet is also a clear pro-argument at CNG. Due to its chemical composition, natural gas burns much cleaner than liquid fuels refined from mineral oil. On the one hand, this clean combustion is good for the engine and its durability, because there are significantly fewer soot particles or deposits inside the engine. On the other hand, the combustion of natural gas results in significantly fewer CO2 emissions at the exhaust. In the case of a CNG vehicle, they are around a quarter below those of (comparable motorized) vehicles with petrol or diesel fuels. About 80 percent less nitrogen oxides are produced per kilometer. Natural gas vehicles are also exemplary in terms of the environmental balance. In terms of driving and performance, the CNG Skoda can easily keep up. If you want and can, you can achieve a top speed of 202 km / h with it, but this then strongly affects the consumption balance. We found the slight and very short phase of weakness above the idle range to be forgiven, especially since the engine then scores with a very smooth running and low combustion noises