Cng Mitsubishi Triton

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I am a numbers guy. Give me facts and figures.

A few months back I decided I needed a truck for work. After lenghty resurch I decided on the Tata, for a few reasons, Lowest cost to buy. largest bed. largest weight rating, and most of all highest km per Lt (kpl) rating at 17 kpl However after waiting they failed todeliver on time and we again revied our second choice, my wifes first choice, the Mitsubishi Triton. Though the dealer near our home in Hang Dong was very helpful, and had many in stock, when asked about white they said there would be a week wait.

Long story short, we ended up with a Mitsubishi Triton CNG. I had never considered a CNG truck before, nor done any numbers on them. So here it is for those who wonder.

The Triton had a petrol engine that can run on 91 or CNG. The gas tank hold 79 Lts and is filled on the side like any truck, It cost about 2700 baht to fill. In the bed of the truck that takes up about 60 cm of space, is a 100 Lt. CNG tank. They fill this under the hood. it cost 150 - 200 baht to fill when dead empty. (10.2 Bt in CM and 8.5 Bt in BKK or Pattaya area)

You have a choice what to use and when. I can tell no difference between the two fuels. Changing between them is seemless. You have a normal gas guage as well as 5 green lights for CNG. Full tank running on CNG is 5 light. The top light changes to red when using regular gas. When the CNG gets low the last light will blink when down to 40 - 50 km left on the tank. If you run out it seemlessly changes over to gas again.

Cost for fuel

My Honda PXC 125 goes 45 km for ever Ltr of fuel or 0.78 Bt per km on average of the last 20,000 km

My Nissan March goes 17 km for every Ltr of fuel or 2 Bt per KM on average of the last 20,000 km (1.7 Bt for Highway only driving)

My Mitsubishi triton extended cab goes 250 km for every 200Bt of CNG or 0.8 per km (20% less down in BKK and Pattaya area due to lower cost of CNG)

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

So what is the catch or down side I know you are asking, and there are a few.

1.) the CNG tank does take up about 60 cm of bed space (95% of the time I do not use all my bed space, do you ?)

2.) Cost to purchase a CNG truck or car is about 50,000 Bt. more that a single fuel car or truck

3.) The range of the tank is 200 km city - 260 km hwy Less than I would like on this Triton pick up

4.) Fuel stations are few and far between. CM has 3 and most towns and along the main hwy have then. Recently on my way back from BKK due to the floods we went back roads and ran out of CNG 2 times and had to use gas until the next stop. So some planning is needed. For every 10 LPG stations we did see there was only 1 CNG

5.) At times we had trouble filling the tank truly full. And I don't think you can just ask for 100 Bt worth like I do on my Scooter but at 200 Bt to fill up is that a problem ??

I had never even thought about a CNG car or truck before. But this is really a game changer for me. Now the Nissan March is parked because the truck simply is half the cost to operate. I even have checked on doing a conversion on my March that would lower the cost per km to 0,6 bt per km

[Limbo]

Great story!

Thanks Jeffrey!

Limbo

[wandrinstar]

How long does it take to fill up.?. Ive seen a chap wait 30Mins because there were 2 Mini Busses in front of him.. Thats rather hopeless if your a Hi Km person. It would pt 1.5 Hrs on Bkk to Ubon.

[katabeachbum]

How long does it take to fill up.?. Ive seen a chap wait 30Mins because there were 2 Mini Busses in front of him.. Thats rather hopeless if your a Hi Km person. It would pt 1.5 Hrs on Bkk to Ubon.

longer que the further south you go, often 3-4 hours south of PrechuapKK

[Shipwreck]

longer que the further south you go, often 3-4 hours south of PrechuapKK

Wait, what? If you live south of Hua Hin it takes 3-4 hours in line before you can fill your tank with CNG?

If true that makes a conversion totally not worth it.

[katabeachbum]

longer que the further south you go, often 3-4 hours south of PrechuapKK

Wait, what? If you live south of Hua Hin it takes 3-4 hours in line before you can fill your tank with CNG?

If true that makes a conversion totally not worth it.

between Pranbury and Surat there are two CNG pumps along the Highway, both usually have 10-18 wheelers que out on the Highway waiting for CNG. As curios about NGV I have stopped sometimes to ask how long it takes, and often 3-4 hours. as this stretch is approx 400km, most need to fill up

In Isarn its often hours too

On the Andaman coast there is no CNG at all, so a run from Surat to Phuket and back is not doable with a Tata NGV, even with extra tanks installed, as it does not have petrol backupsystem

[Shipwreck]

Wow.

You would think then, any business minded Thai would be scrambling to set up some southern CNG stations.

Constant business 24/7? Sounds like a goldmine.

[kartman]

Personally if i was to purchase a CNG car / truck at the present moment it would have to be with the view that it was a convenional fuel vehicle (so no Tata's) that is a bonus when it can run on CNG . I've had a Lpg with a small tank that only did about 350 km to a tank and that was a pain working out when to make the diversion to refill it , so ones that only do 200kms would do my head in ( i know would make some people happy ) having seen the queues at CNG stations . I suppose if you only do local trips and know when the quiet times are to fill up it's viable but a long trip say of 800+ kms each way you could end up 5 hours filling up if you want to do it solely on gas and some areas would be no go .

[katabeachbum]

Wow.

You would think then, any business minded Thai would be scrambling to set up some southern CNG stations.

Constant business 24/7? Sounds like a goldmine.

the only NGV supplier in Th is Ptt. Each station does not seem to have its own CNG tanks, but have trailer(s) parked in a garage. Each trailer replaced when empty, and each trailer costing a fortune as CNG is stored at extremely high pressure. Often passing a NGV pump, its closed as their out of gas.

LPG is another matter. Several small local companies establishing local businesses and making money on selling LPG at 12 baht/liter

I wil drive approx 2300km this week, tuna diesel 4 fillups, same trip running NGV I would have to ad 20 hours fill up time, which will be the total travelling time on diesel

[Kwasaki]

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

Sounds great for you but it wouldn't be compared to a PXC.

Insurance for new Mitsubishi Triton verses Insurance for PCX ?

Road funds .................. ditto ............. verses PCX.

Cost new .................. ditto ............ verses PCX. :D

[wandrinstar]

What about the overnight Hotell Bills.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

How long does it take to fill up.?. Ive seen a chap wait 30Mins because there were 2 Mini Busses in front of him.. Thats rather hopeless if your a Hi Km person. It would pt 1.5 Hrs on Bkk to Ubon.

Where let's say pulling into a gas station, filling up, paying and leaving is about 5 minutes, With the CNG it is slightly longer. Depending on how many pumps they have, I feel on average, it is about twice as long.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

longer que the further south you go, often 3-4 hours south of PrechuapKK

Wait, what? If you live south of Hua Hin it takes 3-4 hours in line before you can fill your tank with CNG?

If true that makes a conversion totally not worth it.

between Pranbury and Surat there are two CNG pumps along the Highway, both usually have 10-18 wheelers que out on the Highway waiting for CNG. As curios about NGV I have stopped sometimes to ask how long it takes, and often 3-4 hours. as this stretch is approx 400km, most need to fill up

In Isarn its often hours too

On the Andaman coast there is no CNG at all, so a run from Surat to Phuket and back is not doable with a Tata NGV, even with extra tanks installed, as it does not have petrol backupsystem

Chiang Mai to Pattaya and back I never had to wait over 10 minutes. Most stations have lines for Big Rigs and others for cars, pick ups, and vans. at one station there was some kind of mal function and it was going to be 30 minutes to 1 hour, I kept driving to the next town and made it OK

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Wow.

You would think then, any business minded Thai would be scrambling to set up some southern CNG stations.

Constant business 24/7? Sounds like a goldmine.

Yes, there clearly needs to be more stations. At this point most are PTT NGV stations but some more other companies are poping up.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

Sounds great for you but it wouldn't be compared to a PXC.

Insurance for new Mitsubishi Triton verses Insurance for PCX ?

Road funds .................. ditto ............. verses PCX.

Cost new .................. ditto ............ verses PCX. :D

Yes I was saying fuel cost. I still have and use my PCX

however PCX 2 people Triton 5 inside and how much out side ?

PCX i bag of groceries, Trition 1 ton

[Spoonman]

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

Sounds great for you but it wouldn't be compared to a PXC.

Insurance for new Mitsubishi Triton verses Insurance for PCX ?

Road funds .................. ditto ............. verses PCX.

Cost new .................. ditto ............ verses PCX. :D

Yes I was saying fuel cost. I still have and use my PCX

however PCX 2 people Triton 5 inside and how much out side ?

PCX i bag of groceries, Trition 1 ton

Are you saying The Triton still does the same mileage with 1 ton in the back ?

[wandrinstar]

You would go back to Benzine in the Mountains fully loaded, doubt if Gas would make it.

[Spoonman]

Been trawling around the web for the passed 15 minutes and I cannot find any official fuel consumption figures for the CNG Triton, was any ever released ?

[JeffreyMcCollum]

You would go back to Benzine in the Mountains fully loaded, doubt if Gas would make it.

I did not set out to buy a CNG truck, but it ended up that way and I am glad I did

Yes fully loaded I noticed no difference with the CNG to regular gas inclucing the hills into CM

And I did not notice any major difference in milage with it loaded or running down empty to pick up the load.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Been trawling around the web for the passed 15 minutes and I cannot find any official fuel consumption figures for the CNG Triton, was any ever released ?

Not official, but:

on CNG: 8.5-12 KM/KG

on Gasoline: 7.2-11 KM/L

[BSJ]

CNG be dammed! Stick with diesel guys. At least if you run out of diesel you can go to Family mart or 7/11 and buy some vegetable oil to keep you going!

[wandrinstar]

Its not Rocket Science. If the Calorific Value of CNG, is for arguments sake 15% less , thats whats reflected in MPG. I get mixed up with CNG , and the stuff first used in the U.K. years ago,that was useless when its cold. Start on Benzine , over to Gas , back again , and a sump full of water in no time. It has its benefits, no doubt , but not for me, even if it was free. Id be carting an empty tank round Thailand, and my Euro Type V8 Diesell beats all the trucks here anyway. , on MPG.

[ignis]

Re your downside 'the CNG tank does take up about 60 cm of bed space'

Looking to replace my pickup last March, looked at the Cng Mitsubishi Triton, the salesman was very helpful, he said for 42k extra could replace the bed Tank and instead fit 2 tanks underneath and fit a bracket and mount the spare-wheel in the bed., likewise could also go with 2 LPG tanks. [lots of LPG station everywhere]......... did not go with the Triton as the EXT cab felt very small in the cab + travel down South and around every month, could not find many CNG/NGV stations down that way.

Maybe someone can advise ?

OK things have changed with engines over the years, but still wonder about engine life of a petrol/CNG pickup... I change the pickup every 3 years by then it has between 300 - 350,000 km for many years never had any problems with a diesel engine, just not sure with petrol/CNG

[ignis]

Its not Rocket Science. If the Calorific Value of CNG, is for arguments sake 15% less , thats whats reflected in MPG. I get mixed up with CNG , and the stuff first used in the U.K. years ago,that was useless when its cold. Start on Benzine , over to Gas , back again , and a sump full of water in no time. It has its benefits, no doubt , but not for me, even if it was free. Id be carting an empty tank round Thailand, and my Euro Type V8 Diesell beats all the trucks here anyway. , on MPG.

Yes years ago in the 70's in the UK I converted yo gas, as you said + on a motorway on a run would suddenly stop, the controller in the engine would be frozen and thick with ice, in summer fine as would soon melt and the gas would get to the engine again...

As for stop and start on petrol, 2 of my neighbors have Toyota Coronas both on LPG and must always start/stop on petrol

[wandrinstar]

I suppose for most ferangs here on Lo Yearly K.M.s they forget how much regular fuel you can buy , in context with the cost of the Add On. Like in a Fuel shortage folk gave away their big engines, when they only used a Pound a weeks worth anyway.

[ignis]

I suppose for most ferangs here on Lo Yearly K.M.s they forget how much regular fuel you can buy , in context with the cost of the Add On. Like in a Fuel shortage folk gave away their big engines, when they only used a Pound a weeks worth anyway.

Yes, Here the 1st thing Thais ask is why I have not got gas on my Audi A6.. No matter how hard one tried to explain they shake their heads muttering rich ferangs.. Lo Yearly K.M.s would never pay for itself [less then 5,000 KM a year] as I mostly use the diesel pickup.

[Kwasaki]

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

Sounds great for you but it wouldn't be compared to a PXC.

Insurance for new Mitsubishi Triton verses Insurance for PCX ?

Road funds .................. ditto ............. verses PCX.

Cost new .................. ditto ............ verses PCX. :D

Yes I was saying fuel cost. I still have and use my PCX

however PCX 2 people Triton 5 inside and how much out side ?

PCX i bag of groceries, Trition 1 ton

How about this for economy, for picking up the groceries. zero fuel costs.

[transam]

So now the cost of running my largest truck is in reality the same as my little honda scooter.

Sounds great for you but it wouldn't be compared to a PXC.

Insurance for new Mitsubishi Triton verses Insurance for PCX ?

Road funds .................. ditto ............. verses PCX.

Cost new .................. ditto ............ verses PCX. :D

Yes I was saying fuel cost. I still have and use my PCX

however PCX 2 people Triton 5 inside and how much out side ?

PCX i bag of groceries, Trition 1 ton

How about this for economy, for picking up the groceries. zero fuel costs.

Drat, you spotted my new transport company.

[MoonRiverOasis]

How about this for economy, for picking up the groceries. zero fuel costs.

Looks like the average Poi Pet goods carrier

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I really am not surprised by all the mis-information on this post.

Yes they need more CNG stations and are building them at about 2 a month.

Most stations do have multi pumps. Some for big trucks that take on 2000 - 5000 ltrs and take longer and pumps for cars, trucks and vans that have on average 100 ltr tanks.

Yes sometimes the big Semi rigs have to wait but it saves them 12000 - 20,000 baht a trip. well worth the wait

For me, and I make trips CM - BKK or Pattaya every other week, it saves me and average of 4000 a trip and 100,000 Bt a year. Well worth it for me.

If you only drive locally, don't drive much, or are not getting a new car or truck it would not be worth it. However to me, savings 100,000 a year is worth it and I expect to keep the truck 5 or 6 years so it will pay for itaelf in that time.

The post was for informing people of the cost saving. I who would never even thought of getting a CNG truck, now would not get one without it