On April 26th, Geely Commercial Vehicle’s sub-brand Yuan Cheng Auto M100 methanol heavy truck was launched at Geely’s Nanchong Base, Sichuan China. There are three variants for Geely’s M100 methanol heavy truck: standard, mountain, and regional logistics version. The price range is between 353,000 yuan (~US$52,453) and 378,000 yuan (~US$56,168).
Geely has been developing methanol fuel powertrains for 15 years and have full intellectual property rights on M100 methanol fuel power technologies. Yuan Cheng methanol heavy trucks is powered by a Weichai-based heavy duty engine with Geely methanol power technologies. The B10 engine has a lifetime rating of over 621,371 miles(1 million km) and uses the same components as those from mainstream heavy truck manufacturers.
Designed in Geely global design network, Yuan Cheng M100 methanol heavy truck adopts an “intuitive” aesthetic design. The minimalist face highlights the trucks clean energy and utilitarian features such as a badge that lights up at night increasing visibility and non-stick material applied around the windshield, door handles, and side-view mirrors preventing mud from sticking to these commonly used points and improving safety in rain and snow.
Yuan Cheng M100 methanol heavy trucks is powered by a 12.54L large displacement engine with a maximum power of 460PS and can climb a maximum incline of 30°, comparable to current diesel models. In addition, it utilizes advanced technologies such as turbocharged intercoolers, closed-loop air-fuel ratio control, EGR cooling system, three-way catalytic converters, etc resulting in high performance, low fuel consumption, high reliability, and low emissions.
With standard operation, users of Yuan Cheng M100 methanol heavy trucks will see significant savings of roughly 18% compared to diesel. Based on an annual operating distance of 93,205 miles (150,000 km) and the price of methanol at 2,500 RMB (~US$371) per ton, each year users will save more than 45,000 RMB (~US$6,686).
Yuan Cheng M100 methanol heavy truck structural frame meets European crash regulation ECE R29-03. In addition, cameras under the left and right side-view mirrors solve the problem of the huge blind spot resulting in the vehicle’s large body and length, adding an extra layer of safety for the driver and pedestrians.
About Yuan Cheng Auto
Yuan Cheng Auto is a subsidiary company of Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Company.
Yuan Cheng Auto was announced in October 2016 with its first products being a pure electric light commercial vehicle and an urban city bus.
Yuan Cheng Auto is fully focused on making clean, new energy commercial vehicles, production and sales. The company’s core products are light commercial vehicles as well as urban bus and coach. Yuan Cheng’s core drivetrain technology is self-developed with a focus on pure electric solutions and also range extended technologies to achieve zero emissions capability.
In July 2015, Geely Group invested US$45.5 million to invest in Icelandic Carbon Cycle International. Geely and Carbon Cycle International will jointly develop and promote the use of 100% methanol vehicles in China, Iceland and other parts of the world. On November 16, 2015, the Geely M100 methanol vehicle project settled in Guiyang Province, China. On December 28, 2015, Geely held the completion ceremony of Shanxi New Energy Automobile Industrialization Project in Jinzhong, Shanxi Province. As a national methanol fuel vehicle pilot project, Geely planned to produce 200,000 units of complete vehicles and engines per year. The completed production line has an annual production capacity of 100,000 methanol cars. In 2017, Geely’s methanol engine vehicle technology has been rated as “international leading level”, and methanol clean fuel vehicles have changed from the pilot phase to the promotion phase.
About Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group
Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group (GCV) is a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group focused on the R&D, production, sales and service of new energy commercial vehicles. The brands under the GCV are London Electric Vehicle Company and Yuan Cheng.
Established in 2016, GCV has been committed to the development of new energy clean commercial vehicles. Two distinct technological development paths has been laid out by the GCV covering 2.5-49 ton light and heavy trucks and 4.5-12m passenger coaches and urban buses.
As part of the Geely Holding Group family, GCV takes full advantage of Geely’s global resources and utilizes global synergies to achieve the ultimate goal of saving energy, reducing emissions, and lowering operating costs in the commercial vehicle sector.
