Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle

摘要

More than 1,000,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles are being used around the world as alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) because fuel resources are plentiful. Further, a natural gas engine has clean burning characteristics, so that now in the U.S. and Japan, CNG vehicles are being developed for practical use. Toyota began to develop a CNG vehicle as an AFV and recently has achieved near zero emissions and established its potential. But there are problems to be solved, such as the driving range, engine power, and engine durability, specifically because of the gaseous nature of the fuel. This paper reports on the development of a high quality CNG vehicle Camry for the U.S. that ensures engine power and reliability and that features a large-capacity fuel tank and an electronic fuel injection control system for CNG.