Livonia-based ROUSH Clean Tech, a designer and manufacturer of propane fuel system technology, has developed an extended range fuel tank for the Ford E-450, a commuter transport vehicle that holds about 50 percent more fuel than the standard tank option.
“We listened to our para-transit customers who wanted the Ford E-450 chassis, yet also needed more autogas fuel capacity,” says Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing. “With this extended range fuel tank, we offer the longest driving range for this model — plus an extended warranty for those customers.”
Mouw says the extended range fuel tank is built on Ford Motor Co.’s 6.8-liter V10 engine. It has 64 usable gallons of propane while the standard option has a 41-usable gallon tank. He says the extended range shuttles will emit about 91,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide over its lifetime when compared to its counterparts.
He says the Ford E-450 with the extended range fuel tank comes with a 5-year, 100,000-mile warranty. The Flint Mass Transportation Authority and the Cleveland Regional Transit Authority are using the vehicle.
“With a strong backlog of more than 200 orders, we will begin shipping the Ford E-450 with the extended range fuel tank option in October 2015,” Mouw says.
