California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company has announced the addition of five Class 8 heavy-duty liquid natural gas trucks to its alternative fuel fleet. PG&E is the first utility in the nation to put the Kenworth T800 LNG-powered trucks into service.
PG&E purchased the Class 8 heavy-duty trucks from Bay Area Kenworth as diesel units and collaborated on the upgrade to liquid natural gas operation with Kenworth and Westport Innovations. The fuel system developed and manufactured by Westport and called High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI), uses a small amount of diesel to ignite the natural gas in the engine and provides diesel-equivalent torque, horsepower and a range of 400 to 450 miles. The result is reduced NOx, particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions and less reliance on diesel fuel by running the cleaner LNG fuel.
