29.8.2005
New Zafira CNG - Fill up for half the price

The new Zafira 1.6 CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) will have its world premiere at the forthcoming Frankfurt Motor Show.

With the new fresh design and its spacious interior the new Zafira CNG will continue the success story. Around 20,000 units were produced of its predecessor. “Every third natural gas passenger car in Germany is a Zafira. We are proud that we have made natural gas vehicles so popular”, says Hans H. Demant, Opel´s Managing Director and Vice President, Engineering, GME. “The ADAC crash test with the Zafira CNG helped to reduce preconceptions and fears regarding natural gas vehicles.”

Thanks to the clever underfloor arrangement of the four gas tanks around the rear axle, the new Zafira CNG again features the versatile Flex7 system. In fact, the natural gas compact van offers even more space than its predecessor and has luggage compartment capacity of 645 liters in the five-seat configuration. Like its predecessor, the new Zafira 1.6 CNG comes with the innovative “monovalentplus” concept, which enables maximum efficiency with natural gas operation.

The CNG unit has an increased compression ratio, enabling high efficiency. It is designed for optimal operation with natural gas, biogas or any mixture of the two. A 14-liter gasoline reserve tank ensures continued mobility on routes without a natural gas filling station. Changing between fuel operating modes is easily done via a switch on the center console, or happens automatically when the primary fuel supply is too low. Thanks to low consumption and the generous capacity of 21 kilograms, the Zafira CNG has a total operating range of more than 540 kilometers.

Taking average fuel consumption of approximately 5.3 kilograms of natural gas per 100 kilometers and the current price of around 0.76 euros per kilo of natural gas, fuel costs can be reduced by approximately 30 percent compared to diesel variants, or even around 50 percent compared to gasoline models. This type of propulsion generates 80 percent less nitrogen oxide than a diesel and around 25 percent lower CO2 emissions than a gasoline engine (diesel: minus 10 percent). In addition, the emissions are free from soot particles, ensuring that the Zafira CNG is not affected by potential driving bans in large cities.

Sales of the second-generation will start in spring 2006, while orders will already be taken later in September once prices are announced.