1/2010 - Sievert AG

4
Sievert Baustoffgruppe
Does not pay off at the end.
Natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – a convincing alternative
to diesel?
In 2009, Sievert Baustoffgruppe
sent off two gas-powered company
cars on an extensive test with
the goal of appreciably lowering
fuel costs. Rolf Gerwald, field
service worker for the quick-mix
hardware store program, tested
a VW Passat running on liquefied
petroleum / gasoline (75 kW).
The VW Touran EcoFuel of Sven
Henke, quick-mix field service
worker in the Kaltenkirchen
sales territory, runs on gasoline /
natural gas (80 kW). Here is a first
impression.
Rolf Gerwald: “The technology is
great. It practically runs like a gasoline-driven
car and 75 kW of power
is enough even if you drive a lot. The
actual drawback is that the gas tank
is much too small, holding only 40
liters. Since it uses exactly 9.89 liters
for 100 kilometers, I have to tank up
every 380 km if I don’t want to switch
over to expensive gasoline. Although
there are enough filling stations, hav-
ing to stop and get fuel so often is still
rather inconvenient. The price for a
liter of LPG has gone up considerably
since the test began. Nonetheless, if
the gas tank was twice as big, I could
well imagine LPG as an alternative to
diesel.”
Sven Henke: “The network of filling
stations for natural gas is very limited,
even in Hamburg. You have to plan
your trip more around the closest filling
stations than the closest customer.
One tank full is enough for around
250 km. For a field service worker,
this means filling up every two days
at least. Better every day! Looking for
filling stations forces me to make unnecessary
detours which cost us about
4 - 6 hours a month. The car also
has less power and acceleration with
natural gas than with diesel. When
loaded, the radius on the highway
sinks to 150 km. There is no problem
with the technology, it is perfectly
reliable. Using this vehicle will not be
good for the field service until there
are enough filling stations.”
Volkmar Templin, manager of
quick-mix sales in the northern region
says, “This vehicle is not suited to
the region of Schleswig-Holstein,
Hamburg and Lower Saxony. You
constantly have to check where the
next natural gas filling station is and
how to go by it on the way to the
next call. The reduction in CO 2 emissions
is offset by having to drive the
extra distance. Therefore any possible
savings on the cost of fuel are wiped
out by having to drive farther, and
that involves more working hours, to
boot. If this obstructs us to visit one
customer in a day, then this car is no
longer efficient!”
Uwe Herbold
Uwe Herbold, manager of the Sievert
Baustoffgruppe vehicle fleet: “Both
cars are okay on fuel. But overall it
is not worth it for us to use them.
Although the fuel costs of natural gas
and LPG are still far below those of
diesel, the overall costs are financially
no better than the latest generation
of BlueMotion diesel models. And
ranges of up to 1,300 km per tank of
diesel fuel simply can’t be beaten for
our colleagues in the field service.”