ŠKODA Citigo CNG chasing records

ŠKODA small car’s consumption lower than factory specs. Gerhard Plattner on the road to success in his record attempt. Berlin welcomes ŠKODA Citigo CNG at the Sony Center. Efficient CNG technology can also use biomethane. This Wednesday after 605km, the record driver Gerhard Plattner reached the third of five milestones in his ŠKODA Citigo CNG. In his record attempt, he plans to cross nine European countries in just one week from Vicenza, Italy to the Swedish capital, Stockholm in the natural gas powered Citigo on a budget of less than 100 euros. The Czech car manufacturer is making a bold statement in front of the Sony Center in Berlin, whereby fuel-saving world champion Gerhard Plattner pays a visit to the German capital during his record attempt. The Austrian makes a positive assessment of the 1,863 kilometres he has travelled so far: “Everything is going according to plan. The ŠKODA Citigo CNG is proving to be an efficient and robust vehicle, running under the specified average fuel consumption.” The ŠKODA Citigo CNG represents exceptional environmentally-friendly mobility; this is particularly true in urban metropolitan areas with the reduction of fine particle pollution. With their efficient natural gas concept, ŠKODA is setting new standards in the town car Citigo. The runabout is listed with emissions of 79g CO2 per kilometre. This low value is possible thanks to using natural gas as fuel and the ŠKODA Green tec technology with elements such as a Start-Stop system, recuperation through brake energy regeneration and low rolling-resistance tyres. The 50 kW (68 hp) town car consumes only 2.9 kg or 4.4 m3 natural gas per 100 km. But Plattner wants to do better than this– and on his 2,700km journey from Vicenza, Italy to the Swedish capital, Stockholm, he is already running at less than the standard consumption of the ŠKODA Citigo CNG. During his brief stopover in Berlin, Plattner eagerly answered the questions of many passersby and emphasized particularly the benefits of CNG technology for the environment. “Natural gas has long since been on the automotive scene. Thanks to modern technology, CNG-fuelled cars today are just as lively and torquey as their counterparts with diesel or gasoline engines,” Plattner said before he sat back down behind the wheel to reach next destination in Rostock. ŠKODA focuses on environmentally friendly cars. The Czechs aim to further reduce the average CO2 emissions of all vehicles. Currently there are 81 ŠKODA models with emissions of less than 120 g CO2/km on offer, including eleven with values of less than 100 g CO2/km. The natural gas engine in the ŠKODA Citigo CNG is one part of this strategy. The advantage of natural gas vehicles over conventional diesel or petrol engines is primarily a cleaner combustion. Emissions of carbon dioxide are much as 25% lower than for other fossil fuels. ŠKODA focuses their natural gas program on ‘CNG’ – compressed natural gas. In contrast to liquid natural gas (LNG), CNG has a higher energy content. CNG vehicles have the additional advantage of being able to use biomethane. This flexibility is a major advantage for the customer in an ever growing fuelling station network for natural gas-powered vehicles. Customers also benefit economically from owning a natural gas vehicle – due to its environmental advantages over other fossil fuels, natural gas has received a tax cut in Germany until the end of 2018. Source: skoda-auto