GM India Launches CNG Version of Chevrolet Aveo

These are the headlines that utterly aggravate us. Here is General Motors providing an alternate energy vehicle for India but will not offer the same in the US. Why is that? With a vehicle like the Aveo, that gets great fuel economy, it would be great for the US market. They seem to want to keep us trapped with oil fired internal combustion engines.

From Green Car Congress:

General Motors India recently launched the CNG version of its Chevrolet Aveo mid-size sedan. The Aveo CNG is a bi-fuel vehicle with a full-size gasoline tank.

The running cost of the CNG Aveo is approximately 54% lower than a similar vehicle powered by gasoline and 25% lower than a similar vehicle powered by diesel, according to GM. Under normal driving conditions, the Aveo CNG has a range of 180 to 200 kilometers (112 to 124 miles) on a full tank of CNG and is BS IV compliant.

The Chevrolet Aveo CNG is equipped with next-generation computer-controlled CNG injection technology from Italy. All “critical to quality” CNG kit components are fitted at the factory—including the CNG injectors, selector switch, modified wiring and suspension. In addition, the body is reinforced to carry the additional mass of the cylinder. Sequential injection represents the most advanced level of evolution of CNG kit technology. The ECU (Electronic Controller Unit) calculates the opening times of the injectors for each cylinder and acts separately on each gas injector with the highest precision.

Hardened valve seats and anodized pistons are used in the proven 1.4-liter VGIS (Variable Geometry Intake System) gasoline engine. This ensures no engine damage or reliability issues in CNG mode.

GM India engineers have done extensive testing and validation of the Aveo CNG. The Chevrolet Aveo CNG comes with a three-year/100,000-km standard warranty, which is an industry first in the mid-size sedan segment, and a service interval of 5,000 km or six months (whichever comes first). During the run of the Aveo in pure CNG mode will not impact the vehicle warranty.