Landi Renzo USA Awarded $600,000 From South Coast AQMD and SoCalGas to Introduce Near Zero Natural Gas Heavy Duty Engine

Landi Renzo’s 7.3L Near Zero natural gas engine covers Class 4-7 vehicles and is available for order now.

TORRANCE, Calif., February 12, 2020 – Landi Renzo USA, the American subsidiary of Landi Renzo Group, the global leader in eco-fuel systems for the automotive industry, announced an award of $600,000. This corresponds in funding of $300,000 from the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (South Coast AQMD) Clean Fuel Funds and another $300,000 in funding from the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) for Landi Renzo’s 7.3L Near Zero natural gas engine development program, which covers Class 4-7 vehicles.

This collaboration will modify the recently introduced Ford 7.3-liter gasoline engine and demonstrate a 0.02 g/bhp-hr NOx California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified engine for commercial vehicle applications. The project is well underway with expected completion by Q2 2020.

The Ford base engine will offer fleets a Near Zero Natural Gas engine for the F-450, F-550, F-650, F-750, F-53, F-59, and E-450 applications. This Near Zero Natural Gas engine is packaged for shuttle buses (e.g., hotel, airport, rental car) box trucks, tow trucks, service body trucks, large package trucks and a host of other vocational offerings. Many of these vehicles will be able to take advantage of various grant funding opportunities.

“We are excited that Landi Renzo USA is driving clean technology for the automotive sector. They’ve done this on a global scale and now are bringing their advanced technology to the U.S. market,” said Michael Lee, project manager, research and development at SoCalGas.

To date, the biggest gap in the Near Zero Natural Gas offering was the work truck market. In addition to operating on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), this engine will also be able to utilize Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). RNG fuel is organic-based and is carbon net-negative when used by natural gas trucks. RNG provides a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gases versus gasoline or diesel.

Andrea Landi, president of Landi Renzo USA, stated, “While we have deployed thousands of clean natural gas vehicles over the past 10 years, this collaboration will drive customers to the next generation of Near Zero Natural Gas vehicles. We are excited about this opportunity. Unlike some technologies that take years to develop, our Near Zero engine is available for order now.”

The Near Zero Natural Gas vehicles come directly from the Ford manufacturing plant to Landi Renzo USA’s facility in Torrance or an Authorized Distributor, where they are converted with the Landi Renzo’s Eco Ready™ CNG system.

Landi Renzo USA is the only approved Ford QVM (Qualified Vehicle Modifier) developer and installer for CARB, the agency responsible for implementing California’s landmark climate legislation. As an OEM approved system under Ford’s QVM program, the original warranty remains fully in place.

For more information and to place orders, visit www.landiusa.com, email pshaffer@landiusa.com or call Paul Shaffer at (214) 263-6525.

SoCalGas Continues to Add New Natural Gas-Powered Trucks to Customer Service Fleet

SoCalGas-CNG Landi Renzo Baytech

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is continuing with its pledge to add about 1,000 new natural gas-powered trucks to its fleet over the next five years. The trucks are part of the utility’s “green” fleet replacement program that will have residential energy service technicians driving the message that natural gas is the fuel of choice for the road.

The utility has been purchasing new natural gas-powered trucks from original equipment manufacturers as well as custom-built natural gas vehicles through a collaborative effort with local Southern California companies. Currently, SoCalGas has over 1,000 natural gas vehicles in its fleet.

Last year, the first of 50 custom-built 2011 Chevrolet Silverado trucks were delivered for use in Southern California. Continuing their work with Torrance-based Landi Renzo USA, Pacific Truck Equipment and Rotolo Chevrolet, 54 additional 2012 trucks equipped with Landi Renzo/Baytech California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved compressed natural gas fuel systems will be delivered this year.

Natural gas vehicles are a real transportation solution today,” said Hal D. Snyder, vice president of customer solutions at SoCalGas. “Natural gas is the ideal fuel for transportation because it’s abundant, affordable, clean and produced domestically, and can serve all segments of the transportation industry. As we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our fleet, we encourage the automakers and after-market companies to produce natural gas vehicles, an effort that will result in significant air quality and cost benefits to customers and the region.”

Independent sources estimate the U.S. supply of natural gas will last more than a century. Compressed natural gas currently costs just over $2 per gasoline gallon equivalent, offering the public significant fuel costs savings. Another major benefit of compressed natural gas as a transportation fuel is reduced tailpipe emissions. When compared to a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle, a natural gas vehicle realizes reduced carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions, reduced nitrogen oxides, or NOx, and carbon monoxide, or CO, emissions, and particulate matter emissions are also reduced.

“SoCalGas’ continued commitment to the use of cleaner, domestically produced, and less expensive fuel here in Southern California, should be applauded” said Andrea Landi, President of Landi Renzo USA. “We are pleased to have been selected for a second year as SoCalGas’ partner in this effort.”

Southern California currently has nearly 300 compressed natural gas fueling stations serving more than 17,000 natural gas-powered vehicles. SoCalGas plans to expand over the next few years all of its 13 company-owned public-access compressed natural gas stations. At its Riverside refueling station, SoCalGas is field testing a new modular compressed natural gas “fueling station in a box” technology that takes 20 percent less space and can be installed faster than traditional facilities with separate components installed on the site, thereby offering the potential to significantly reduce capital cost and construction time.

SoCalGas also is a member of a national collaborative, called “Drive Natural Gas Initiative,” made up of North American natural gas utilities and producers focused on advancing natural gas as a fuel for all sectors of transportation, including cars, trucks, buses, and marine and mining equipment.

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