CNG-powered Sedan Released by Iran Khodro

The largest car maker in the Middle East, Iran Khodro, has just unveiled what they claim to be the world's most powerful car engine to run on natural gas. Except it isn't. The Samand Soren ELX has a turbocharged 1.7 liter four-cylinder engine capable of offering 150 hp and it is based on the underpinnings of the old Peugeot 405.

Sure, that sounds like a lot compared with the 113 horsepower delivered by a Compressed Natural Gas-powered Honda Civic GX - available in certain parts of the United states - but it also falls short of the 163 hp outputted by the Mercedes-Benz E 200 NGT, which was launched back in 2005. We're not even mentioning the Volkswagen Passat TSI EcoFuel Concept revealed last year, which ties the Soren ELX's 150 horsepower.

The Samand Soren ELX was unveiled las week in Tehran with a photo of the Ayatollah overlooking the car, which is self-explanatory considering that it was developed “under the intellectual property of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, according to the Tehran Times.

Apparently the car meets Euro 4 emission standards and “its nominal power will not decline even at the height of 2,000 meters above sea level,” said Manouchehr Manteqi, the CEO of Iran Khodro. This should become pretty handy considering that Tehran for example seats more than 1500 meters above sea-level.

The Iran Khodro car company is most famous in the Western world for its Renault join-venture, winning a license to manufacture the Renault/Dacia Logan as the Tondar. They also have an agreement with the PSA Group to produce the Peugeot 206 Sedan and the 405-based Soren.

Considering that Iranians have converted over a quarter million cars to run on Compressed Natural Gas until now, the new Saman Soren ELX sedan makes a lot of sense and it's also a good choice for any eco-friendly lover, since it emits much less pollution than a regular gasoline car. In Tehran, for example, all buses run on CNG, while almost all of the city's taxi drivers have been forced into converting their cars.