Is LNG gas vehicle worth starting?

To say which type of vehicle is the hottest in the current heavy truck market, I am afraid to be the LNG gas heavy truck.

According to relevant data, the cumulative sales of heavy trucks from January to July 2023 were 361,900 units, an increase of 25.2% over the same period last year of 289,000 units, of which the cumulative sales of 63,800 gas heavy trucks were 24,400 units over the same period last year, a jump of 161%, in the off-season of heavy truck sales in July and August of previous years, the gas vehicle market is still hot. It even forms an alternative advantage to fuel vehicles.

LNG is the liquid form of natural gas cooled to about -162°, which has a relatively high energy density, good combustion performance and high calorific value, so it releases more power and has a longer driving range. At present, the capacity of LNG heavy truck type storage tank in mainstream enterprises is 1350L, the total LNG filling capacity can reach 512kg, and the driving mileage can reach about 1500 kilometers.

At the same time, the LNG filling time is short, and it can be filled in 5-10 minutes, which is suitable for owners who run long distances and have high transportation time requirements. In addition, the cylinder reserves of LNG gas vehicles are large and small in size, which is more conducive to reducing the weight of the vehicle, and installed on the frame, which can also reduce the center of gravity of the vehicle and improve the safety performance of the vehicle.

However, the main reason why LNG gas heavy trucks can stand out from many models is the gas price. Since the beginning of the year, the gas price was once about 2.5 yuan, and was maintained at about 4.5 yuan some time ago. Compared with diesel oil, the price advantage of more than 8 yuan is very obvious.

At the same time, the profitability of LNG gas vehicles is also another major driving force for its sales. The industry platform has made a comparison, if the diesel price is 7.4 yuan /L, LNG7.3 yuan /kg, the total weight of 49t heavy truck 100 km fuel consumption is about 33L, 100 km LNG consumption is about 33kg, simple understanding is 1L diesel ≈1kg LNG, at present, most of the heavy truck operating mileage of about 200,000 km/year, It can be calculated that the fuel cost of diesel heavy truck per kilometer is ≈2.44 yuan, the fuel cost of LNG heavy truck per kilometer is ≈1.4 yuan, and the difference between 200,000 kilometers a year is about 200,000 yuan.

This is only the difference in fuel costs, if you take into account the cost of buying the car, weight, car urea and other inputs, as shown in the following table:

In contrast, such high profitability is really exciting. This is also an important reason for many owners to choose to change cars.

However, it is worth noting that although these advantages are attractive, there are certain risks, such as fluctuations in LNG gas prices.

In other words, the price of LNG fluctuates greatly, and the operating cost of LNG heavy trucks is not easy to control. Once the price of LNG rises, the profit of LNG gas heavy trucks will be affected.

For example, the "coldest winter" of the gas heavy truck in 2017-2018, at first, it was also because of the low price of LNG gas, causing many owners to rush to start gas vehicles, but the gas price soared in the second half of 2017, and even rushed through the 10 yuan mark, directly allowing a large number of natural gas heavy trucks to stop operation and dealers to shut down. In other words, once the price of LNG gas rises, the LNG heavy truck may be eliminated by other models in the market.

Although the current sales of LNG gas heavy trucks are good, the owners of the freight market still have to think about it, after all, the sales of LNG gas vehicles are not equal to the prosperity of the freight market. When many owners follow the trend of gas heavy trucks, will there be excess capacity and no goods to pull? When the number of gas heavy trucks is large enough to affect the transportation price, will the freight rate fall further?

So, want to start LNG gas heavy truck is not impossible, but to do a comprehensive consideration, can not only see the advantages can not see the disadvantages, DARO trailer axle recommends that owners according to their own use conditions, operating characteristics, supply situation, the distribution of refueling stations in the operation area, car loan monthly payment program to analyze the investment and income, suitable can start, Don't follow suit if you don't fit.