Doing the Math on the new 2014 Ford F-150 CNG

2014 ford f-150 cng lpg compressed natural gas

Today, Ford announced a new addition to its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) model selection, and it is the 2014 Ford F-150 CNG.  Ford claims to be the first factory approved CNG light duty half-ton pickup on the market.  We at TFLtruck want to know all the details and get to the bottom of things.  So what are the pros and cons of ordering your 2014 F-150 with the CNG/LNG conversion?  Read on…

The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) conversion is available only on the 3.7-liter V6 powered F-150.  Ford will charge around $315 per vehicle to upgrade the engine components and enable CNG/LPG capability, however this does not mean you are getting a gaseous powered truck.  Your truck will also have to go to a Ford Qualified Vehicle Modifier to get the secondary CNG fuel system installed.  This upgrade will cost between $7,500 and $9,500 depending on the size of the CNG tank.  There are three available tank sizes: 8.9, 15.7, or 21.2 GGE (stands for Gasoline Gallon Equivalent).

More good news are the 3.7-liter power and MPG rating are identical, no matter if you are running on good-old gasoline or CNG/LPG.  It’s still rated at 302 horsepower and 278 lb-ft of torque.  MPG rating is 17 city/23 highway and 18 combined.

2014 ford f-150 bed mounted cng tank

Lets do the math.  If you install the largest 21.2 GGE tank, for a cost of $9,815 – then you can extend the range of your pickup truck by 381.6 miles (18 MPG * 21.2 GGE).  Current national average price for a gallon of “regular” is $3.63 (according to http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp) and national average price for a GGE of natural gas is $2.06 (according to http://www.cngnow.com/average-cng-prices/pages/default.aspx).  CNG is on average $1.57 cheaper per gallon.  In order to recoup your conversion investment of $9,815, you would need to buy 6,292 GGE of natural gas at current prices.  This is equivalent to 297 CNG fill-ups or 113,256 miles.  If your work truck does close to 40,000 miles per year, you can recoup the cost of the conversion in about 3 years (36 months).

Pros:

– Clean burning CNG/LPG fuel. Helping the environment.

– Same power or MPG efficiency.  Doing the same work (caveat – see Cons).

– Domestically produced fuel (around 85% of CNG/LPG is sourced in the US). Helping your country.

– Extra range between fill-ups (up to a combined 750 miles on both gasoline and CNG/LPG).

Cons:

– It will take around 113,256 miles to recoup the initial cost of the conversion.

– The additional CNG/LPG tank is bed mounted and takes away some usable bed space.

See more Ford coverage at TFLtruck.com.

Enjoy this insider TFLtruck introduction vide of the 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor.

Andre Smirnov
Andre Smirnov

Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, software engineer, writer, and reporter. He has been writing and reporting at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or simply ‘going for a drive’.