Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo's subsidiary Volvo Trucks and Shell have agreed to jointly launch heavy duty trucks fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Under the collaboration, the vehicle manufacturer will use its MethaneDiesel concept that allows usage of LNG in diesel engines, with Shell's LNG expertise and infrastructure investments to organize the activities and support the larger use of LNG in the transport sector.
Volvo FM MethaneDiesel comes with the new methane-diesel technology and uses liquefied gas as its main fuel.
The collaboration agreement is in progress and does not affect the current or future cooperation with other partners, while the work has started with the first stage focused on selected markets including central Europe and the US.
Volvo Trucks Public Affairs director Lennart Pilskog said together the companies can improve and speed up the introduction of LNG to the transport business.
"We see considerable potential for our gas truck and will continue the roll-out in more markets along with the development of our production capacity and gas infrastructure," Pilskog added.
The company has already launched the truck in Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, while it is currently introducing the trucks to markets in Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and France.
