December 19, 2002
Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG Wins "Fleet Award 2002"
Victory for highly economical and environmentally compatible natural gas van
Rüsselsheim. More then 6,000 fleet managers and readers of the industry magazine "Autoflotte" have made their decision: the Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is the best car of the year 2002 in the category "Alternative Propulsion".
Reliability and low maintenance costs were two significant factors that led to the natural gas-fueled compact van's victory in the seventh "Fleet Award". Autoflotte is read mainly by fleet managers at government authorities, institutions and companies – a target group which has discovered the special advantages of natural gas-powered vehicles in a big way. As a result, nearly every second natural gas Zafira is in commercial use.
Opel's 71 kW (97 hp) Zafira 1.6 CNG is the first and thus far the only monovalent natural gas volume production vehicle that can also run on gasoline. The Zafira CNG has a 14 liter gasoline reserve tank in addition to four natural gas tanks. This enables drivers to switch to gasoline when the CNG tanks are nearing empty and there are no natural gas filling stations in the area. This feature increases the vehicle's range from about 350 kilometers to an average 500 kilometers. It also means that the Zafira CNG is particularly suitable for everyday use. The space-saving method of installing the tanks under the floor means that the very versatile and newly optimized Flex7 seating system can be used without any restrictions. The long list of advantages as compared to gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles includes much lower fuel costs and a reduction of exhaust emissions. In addition, natural gas as a fuel is tax-free until at least 2009 and it is not subject to the annual Eco-tax increases. Germany's ruling coalition has also agreed to extend the tax abatement for natural gas vehicles until the year 2020. Along with the Zafira 1.6 CNG, the natural gas-powered Opel Astra station wagon, which also features the innovative Monovalentplus concept, will be available in the spring of 2003.
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