Photo: BMW
In a recent interview for Automotive News Europe, BMW’s Development Chief, Dr. Herbert Diess, talked about new engines and new technologies to be used by his company, in the near future. One of the questions was about compressed natural gas usage.
“We have some predevelopment running, just to keep up with the technology. We could probably be on the market within two years, but we are not planning to do so because we don't see a breakthrough in this technology on the horizon,” Diess said, hinting at a somewhat unprepared audience that might not be too receptive to the alternative fuel.
It’s easy to see why BMW is still playing it cool with CNG. Back in the day, the world experienced similar problems with diesel cars, even though not at the exact same scale.
Even today, the US market is still reluctant towards diesel cars and most major manufacturers have limited offerings on the table that use this kind of fuel.
However, Diess also said that there’s a need for a bigger automaker to make a move on the market in this direction, one like Toyota or BMW:
“To really increase public awareness of CNG you need to have a big manufacturer, such as Volkswagen, pushing it,” he said.
That’s because, the cars and the technology might be brilliant but actually selling the cars will eventually become the problem. For the moment, BMW will stick to EVs but if someone else also enters the CNG game, it’s nice to know that they will be quick to respond.
It’s easy to see why BMW is still playing it cool with CNG. Back in the day, the world experienced similar problems with diesel cars, even though not at the exact same scale.
Even today, the US market is still reluctant towards diesel cars and most major manufacturers have limited offerings on the table that use this kind of fuel.
However, Diess also said that there’s a need for a bigger automaker to make a move on the market in this direction, one like Toyota or BMW:
“To really increase public awareness of CNG you need to have a big manufacturer, such as Volkswagen, pushing it,” he said.
That’s because, the cars and the technology might be brilliant but actually selling the cars will eventually become the problem. For the moment, BMW will stick to EVs but if someone else also enters the CNG game, it’s nice to know that they will be quick to respond.
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