So GM claims 650 miles of driving range and the Ram is 350...that doesn't seem correct

So let me get this straight. The RAM 2500 has a 300 lb payload with passengers. Can tow 7000 lbs and has a 4 ft bed. Sounds like the specs for a ranger or tacoma. Ram is joking if they think that companies are going to buy this. They probably just half assed it to get more government grant money to spend on advertising instead of development.

The starting price of $48K is $10K more then one without CNG, Somene will have to figure out where the cost advantage is. Plus how many CNG stations there are in the area you will be using this if any. I hardly ever see a Crewcab long bed 4X4 here in the midwest, kind of wonder how many they sell each year.

@Bigger Bob

GM leaves the factory gas tank. RAM uses an 8 gallon tank. That's likely why there is a disparity in overall range.

169" wheelbase and you still only get a 4' bed. Yikes! I guess since the payload is already used up by the tanks, you really don't need much of a bed anyway.

No wonder Ford outsells both in the 3/4-1 tons.

Back in the 80's Canada was pushing natural gas,many people converted over but limited fueling stations,low mpg with natural gas and lower performance,but it was very clean,very low emisions.,something your president is pushing,who cares if it practical its green !! Wonder what Ford has because they got hundreds of million in taxpayer money to build green vehicles from Obama ! Yep,Ford sold its soul to have green cars from the feds in change for hundreds of millions of free tax payer money that they will never pay back ! More monies than they gave Chrysler for green cars !!

Chrysler had natural gas vehicles in the 80's and 90's,remmeber those tanks are extrememly heavy because natural gas is very explosive KAAABOOOM !!

What is with this company? First they are now making you buy a free RamBox on the base Tradesman which cuts into the width of the bed. Now they are taking away so much of the length on the CNG. A 4' long box is a joke. I don't know many work truck people who want to make their beds smaller.

The announcemnts today from Fiat-Ram should be we are making our beds smaller with less cargo capacity.

The cargo box becomes useless.
Might as well drive a Kia.

Don't forget!!! Natural Gas is another publicly traded commodity just like oil. Prices are at the mercy of speculators- the same ones that are into credit default swaps and destroying the economy.

" mounted at the rear of the 8-foot bed ". Is that a typo? The picture shows the front of the bed.
How does the Chevy have a similar setup but not eat as much bed? Why not go with one big tank, or stack the tanks on top of each other?
Another thing that doesn't make sense is why put an 8 gallon tank on it? Leave the standard tank. That makes the truck a bit more versatile, or will the stock fuel tank give you zero cargo capacity?
If you only have 1,580 of payload, and minus passengers etc - it would of made more sense to offer this in a 3500.
The Tradesmen will kick this things ass when it comes to value for capacity.

Pretty sure if this was a Ford everyone would be sayin how awesome it is......

Nope. If Ford offered a truck with a 4' box and 8 gallon tank people would trash it even more.

Lou, I don't get that 8-gallon tank either. Now, buyers will have 3 choices. Chrysler just thinned out the herd with this setup. If anyone goes for it instead of Chevy or Ford it will be purely out of loyalty for Dodge.

Scretch that "3 choices" part :)

Its a 2500 yet it can only tow 7,650 lbs? Oh Dodge.....

Good idea, but Ram has screwed this one up. The CNG option is only available in a loaded crewcab, not the kind of truck typically bought by fleets, the prime customers for CNG fueled trucks. My company looked into buying these, but we just don't use trucks like that. How about making CNG an option on the Tradesman?

@Judd - I don't care who makes it. A poorly executed idea is still a poor idea whether it has a blue oval on it or not. The Chevy set up eats up less box, has a full sized fuel tank, and cuts into the payload by 450 lb. It appears to be a better executed system. Based on these 2 stories, I'd pick the Chevy if I wanted CNG.

@Greg J - I just googled CNG for Fords. You can get aftermarket conversions that keep factory warranty.
http://baftechnologies.com/blog/baf-gets-ford-approval-for-natural-gas-conversions/
According to this PUTC story, Ford also has a partnership with Westport for their WiNG bifuel system which can be ordered through Ford dealers with full Ford warranty.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/10/ford-gm-plan-natural-gas-v-8-pickups.html

I had forgot about that story in PUTC. So in reality, Ram is just catching up to Ford and GMC.

@Bigbob - agreed, why not offer this for the Tradesman truck.

Lou,
Yup, Ford offers CNG ready trucks. The engine is ready for CNG, your part is to install the system yourself, tank and all.
Which I kind of like, becuause it's up to you where you want to install the tank and how big you want it.
That goes back to our other discussion about tank location and such.But I would think 95% of people still put it in the bed of the truck thou, It's just the most convenient place.

On a dual fuel setup, you are pretty much stuck with a tank or two in the bed. We have a bunch of Landirenzo converted Chevy 2500HD's that are dedicated CNG , and they have 3 tanks underneath. One large one takes the place of the gas tank.

Somebody needs to produce a utility bed for cab And chassis models that comes equipped with propane tanks. Then also offer the lng conversion for all makes. Most contractors don't need the bed to haul plywood etc. they use the bed for tools that won't fit in the boxes.And a rack to haul larger items. utility bed plus conversion could bring fifteen to twenty grand easily

Does anyone publish a map of where the CNG stations are across the US? There are exactly zero in my immediate area and none in my part of the State.

Seems to me a Cummins would be the better way to go for now. CNG stations don't spring up like daisies, you know.

Without CNG stations readily available, CNG vehicles are going to be limited to areas where CNG is available. Else you'd be running on gasoline all the time.

@highdesertcat - here is a US government link - http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/natural_gas_locations.html

Thanks Lou. I won't be buying one but some of my Rancher friends may be interested.

@Lou - Are you mad? Ram is taking down Chevy in 2012 and Ford in 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goto cngnow.com and click on Stations to find where CNG stations are across the US. I refuel my Chevy Tahoe and Honda Civic in Tulsa for $1.49 & the mpg is the same as using gasoline because CNG is sold on an energy equivalent basis. For more of my CNG story see burnusgas.com or Twitter or Facebook.

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac49/joh408/2013.jpg

Pretty sure if this was a Ford everyone would be sayin how awesome it is......

Not this Ford man. If there's something to legitimately criticize I will do so. I don't care if Ford makes it or not. Ford does however tend to have better ideas when designing trucks.

@Mechanic - aka mopar bob - no why? I hope your skills with a wrench are better than your skills with a crystal ball.
@Tom with Ranger - that shrunken SuperDuty grill looks even more ugly on the F150.

I really do not know what Dodge was thinking when they removed the 36 gallon tank for a 8 gallon tank. GM makes alot more sense to keep the larger gas tank in place since stations offereing CNG are so limited.

As a fleet manager for a distrabution company we own a lot of trucks many are pickups but we use every inch of an 8 foot bed so as much as I would love to get fuel for my trucks at the very attractive CNG price point. What good is the truck it if you can no longer haul anything in the bed? If they wanted these trucks to sell, they need to custom design elivated bed sub floors with hiden CNG tanks. I could easily give up a few inches of bed side to floor hight but to kill half or more of the whole bed with these tanks makes the truck worthless to me.

Where I can really see real benafit with this CNG application is with my F450 v10s. Where I have 18 foot flatbeds with stake sides on them, If you could belly mount the cng tanks under the bed floors I could save well over the $10K in a trucks life cycle. Since my F450 V10s only avg 6 mpg. I had Diesels but with the premium price of fuel, maitenace,and cost of the Diesel options, I have been trading them out for Gas V10s. The diesel were only getting 8-9mpg in same application. CNG would really make a big difference.

BUILT
FORD
TOUGH
Without your
tax dollars