Yesterday, 20 Fiat Punto Natural Power vehicles were delivered to the Municipality of Gothenburg. This was the first batch of a total of 200 dual fuel (petrol and methane) vehicles destined for distribution on the Swedish market via Fiat Auto importer – Italienska Bil.

The Punto Natural Power cars for Gothenburg were purchased by Gatubolaget, a publicly owned company managed by the Scandinavian city, which has handled public service fleets for the past 30 years.

The natural gas cars, which are specially equipped for cold climates, mount a 1.2 litre 8 valve engine that, when running on methane, produces 52 bhp at 5000 rpm and a torque of 88 Nm at 3000 rpm (60 bhp and 102 Nm respectively when running on petrol).

Additionally, the Punto Natural Power delivers low fuel consumption figures and, above all, minimal emissions in complete safety. This means that the client can operate these vehicles in all urban areas subject to traffic limitations for atmospheric pollution reasons, whereas the car’s safety features mean that it can also be parked in a covered garage.

When running on methane, the car returns fuel consumption figures of 5.5 kg/100 km (urban cycle), 3.7 kg/100 km (extra urban) and 4.3 kg/100 km (combined cycle); whereas, when running on petrol (the car has a 47 litre petrol tank), the consumption figures are, respectively, 8.0 l/100 km, 5.3 l/100 km and 6.3 l/100 km.

The two methane tanks, located in the boot, have a capacity of 60.6 litres and can store up to 11 kg of methane, giving the vehicle a range of 260 kilometres (combined cycle). Moreover, the Punto Natural Power also offers respectable performance, with a top speed of 151 km/h, when running on petrol (145 km/h with methane) and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 19 seconds (methane) and 17 seconds (petrol).

This addition to the Swedish public ‘Eco Fleet’ is in keeping with new environmental legislation, which sets the ambitious objective of achieving, by 2008, a quota of 90% minimum environmental impact vehicles in all public fleets.

The Swedish government’s commitment to this objective has already seen the establishment of 53 methane fuel stations, mainly in the South of the country, where 90% of the population and industry is concentrated (17 of these stations are in the Gothenburg area).

Fiat Auto’s efforts to promote methane as a vehicle energy source in Scandinavia are a contribution to this objective. Indeed, the company is already the undisputed leading manufacturer of B segment natural gas powered vehicles in Europe.

Fiat Auto has always been at the forefront in matters of environmental protection.

In this context, methane power is one of the company’s main commitments, and it has proven this by developing a comprehensive range of products that respond to the demands of both the professional and the private user.

The delivery ceremony held at Gothenburg was attended by the local authorities and Fiat Auto representatives Fernando Duarte (Area Manager Scandinavia), Bengt Appelqvist (General Manager Italienska Bil – Fiat Auto importer) and Per Steensen, (Brand Manager Fiat Sweden).