Automaker Ford recently announced that it will release a model of the 2016 F-150 full-size pickup that can run using compressed natural gas. The company added that production of the car has already begun at the company's Kansas City assembly plant.
According to USA Today, the last model of the Ford F-150 pickup that runs on propane or CNG was the 2014 model. Ford was able to make this transition by making adjustments on the truck's 3.7-liter V6 engine. The alternate fuel model of the Ford F-150 was not carried over to the 2015 model.
The new 2016 Ford F-150 model sports a bigger engine. It has a 5.9-liter V8 which can be equipped with a bi-fuel propane/CNG package that can power the truck for more than 750 miles when combined with gasoline. Fuel economy is rated at 22 miles per gallon on highway and 18 miles per gallon combined.
Ford truck group marketing manager Doug Scott told the Detroit Free Press, "We expect to sell even more new 5.0-liter V8 equipped F-150's with the gaseous fuel option, thanks to the improved capability that fleet customers want."
Scott added that Ford was able to sell more than 2,100 units of the F-150 that runs on compressed natural gas. The figure was twice as much as their original forecast.
Including the 2016 F-150, Ford now has eight factory available vehicles that use gaseous-fuel prep option. Other models include the Super Duty pickups, Transit commercial vans, Transit Connect and a handful of chassis cabs, cutaways and stripped chassis.