Compressed Natural Gas, abbreviated as CNG, is one of the most popular gas based fuel options in the market, which provides an economical ride. There are plenty of options available in the market for CNG vehicles that are factory fitted or can be retrofitted at the dealership level, but have you ever wondered why factory fitted CNG in automatic transmission vehicles are hard to spot? So, here are all the boons and banes involved in getting a CNG for Your automatic car, along with the long term effect.
Due to the confinement of CNG in just a few cities, these bi-fuel vehicles are used only for a local commute, either by working individuals or for passenger carrying purposes. For the same reason, CNG is not available in higher trims of most vehicles as this segment demands an economical ride and is ready to toss off the few extra bells and whistles they get in the top spec versions of a car.
We are all well versed with the power output of a CNG powertrain. CNG kits, be it factory fitted or aftermarket retrofitted, both lack a low end torque and take up their own sweet time to gain pace. This does pressurise the engine block to deliver power at a particular instant. In an automatic transmission, the clutches are detuned because they are not able to withstand heavy torque and are prone to overheating. Thus, in the need of an instant kick down, automatic transmissions do lag in upshifting the gears.
Automatic transmissions are meant to stay coupled with the driveshafts all the time until they are manually slotted into neutral. Due to lack of low end power and torque, the transmission might struggle to crawl the vehicle when in drive. This can lead to a premature wear of your clutch!
While driving a vehicle equipped with both a CNG kit and an automatic transmission, you are bound to experience a considerable lag while accelerating as well. This problem can indeed be overcome with a more powerful engine, coupled with a better transmission but would not fetch volumes in such a segment. Therefore, this is not the one for spirited drivers!
If an aftermarket CNG kit is retrofitted in an automatic vehicle without the necessary calibrations, it can damage the transmission, which can lead to an unnecessary expenditure on your pocket. To produce a perfect car with both CNG and an automatic transmission, the OEMs would have to put in more research and provide the vehicle in a different state of tune.
As per the trends, automatic transmission equipped vehicles and CNG vehicles cater to the needs of different segments of people. The overlay chuck of the public requiring such a powertrain and drivetrain combination is scarce and might not be worth it for the OEMs to devote their time and resources.
As the price of a factory fitted CNG vehicle and a pure IC engine vehicle of the same variant has a vast gap, people prefer purchasing a pure IC engine vehicle and getting a CNG kit retrofitted at the dealership level or aftermarket. Slamming in a CNG kit with an automatic gearbox would simply increase the ex-showroom price of a vehicle, thus rendering it almost useless for the price sensitive segment and serving just a fraction. As the ex-showroom price rises, so does the taxation on the vehicle.
It's not all negative though! A CNG car does reduce the running costs and with an automatic transmission, you will surely get to rest your leg in the bumper to bumper traffic. Moreover, CNG on combustion produces much less emissions when compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. This means less harm to the environment and less of sludge into your engine oil! This does increase your servicing intervals and maintains the quality of your engine oil for a much longer period!
However, on a personal level, if you can live with the fact of letting the horses under the hood take a nap until on CNG in your Automatic car, you are good to go! Just prioritise to invest in a decent quality CNG kit, which is OBD - II compatible, with good after sales support and get it fitted from an experienced installer who can calibrate it with the necessary alterations without affecting your transmission!
Additionally, you can check out our detailed ownership review on 2020 BS6 Ignis AMT which has been retrofitted with a CNG kit by clicking on this link. 2020 Maruti Suzuki Ignis AMT CNG Ownership Review - India's First!
So, what do you think about CNG in Automatic Transmission vehicles? Would you like to own one and which car would it be? Do let us know in the comment section. Let's get into a discussion with this in our 91Wheels Telegram and 91Wheels Whatsapp group, where you can know more about vehicles, conduct discussions on your favourite ride, and much more! You can also subscribe to our Youtube channel for our exclusive video content on the latest from the world of cars and motorcycles. Also, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more about vehicles!
