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Natural Gas Vehicles: ADAC Warns of Economic Total Loss
The automobile club ADAC has warned of a potential economic total loss for owners of natural gas vehicles. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, slightly more than 77,000 cars with natural gas engines are on German roads. However, over the years, the demand for cars that can refuel with compressed natural gas (CNG) has plummeted. Currently, no new cars with this drive system are available. Since 2016, the number of CNG filling stations has also been steadily declining. Around 700 of them were in operation in Germany at the beginning of 2024.
Owners of cars with CNG engines have fewer and fewer refueling options and often have to accept significant detours to the nearest filling station. Additionally, spare parts are becoming increasingly unavailable. Usually, the tanks of natural gas cars need to be replaced after a maximum of 20 years, and in some cases even earlier.
“Because spare parts are expensive or no longer available, this can lead to an economic total loss,” warns Florian Hördegen, head of vehicle technology at the ADAC Technology Center in Landsberg. Even inexpensive, used replacement tanks from other countries are usually not accepted here because they lack approval.
Climate Balance as Good as E-Cars
Alternatively, it should be checked whether the vehicle can be converted back to pure gasoline operation. This can be possible with so-called bivalent CNG models, provided that solo operation with gasoline is noted and emissions tested in the operating permit. The club advises consulting one of the testing organizations to clarify which parts would need to be removed to obtain approval according to § 21 StVZO. This way, at least the (smaller) gasoline tank could continue to be used.
The ADAC advocates for maintaining a comprehensive network of CNG filling stations and spare parts supply at least in the medium term. This would be desirable not only in the interest of consumer protection but also for climate protection: In the ADAC Ecotest, which evaluates cars based on their environmental compatibility, models powered by natural gas regularly outperformed their gasoline and diesel counterparts. In terms of CO2 balance, they are sometimes even as good as electric cars. This is mainly due to the addition of biomethane, which is produced through the fermentation of manure, food waste, and renewable raw materials such as corn and grass.
Translated automatically from German.
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