Mobility and Sustainability.

Natural gas vehicles emit less carbon dioxide than petrol or diesel engines. They are therefore increasingly in demand. Volkswagen has helped to advance this development and, in view of the rising demand, introduced vehicles with a new natural gas concept.

Since 2002 Volkswagen has offered a so-called bivalent natural gas vehicle, which can be operated either with natural gas or petrol. At the 2005 International Car Exhibition (IAA) in Frankfurt Volkswagen presented two vehicles with the new EcoFuel engine. EcoFuel means that these vehicles run primarily on natural gas. Unlike the BiFuel concept, where the overall range of 900 km is mainly achieved using the petrol engine, EcoFuel is a quasi monovalent" concept for natural gas mode, with the petrol tank mainly acting as a back-up.

It has been possible to order the two EcoFuel models, Caddy and Touran, since early 2006. In the Caddy EcoFuel the natural gas tanks that hold 26 kg (57 lb) and are located under the car floor ensure a range of approx. 270 km. With consumption of approx. 6.0 kg natural gas for 100 km the consumption values are good. Low consumption costs are incurred mainly because of the subsidies for natural gas fuels in some countries. The spare petrol tank has a capacity of 13 litres (3.43 gal) and ensures that the vehicle will continue on its way for another 130 km (80 miles). When the gas tank is empty, the vehicle automatically switches over to conventional fuel and is displayed on a separate fuel gauge. The Touran EcoFuel has a natural gas tank with a capacity of 18 kg (40 lb) in pure natural gas mode over a range of 310 km (193 miles), with a total range of 440 km (273 miles). Its consumption is 5.9 kg (13 lb) per 100 km (62 miles). The carbon dioxide emissions of the Touran EcoFuel are around 23 per cent lower than those of a comparable petrol engine, in the Caddy EcoFuel around 20 per cent lower.