Marketing and Media Department – Dubai:

Al Etihad Centre, a subsidiary of Emirates Transport, which specialises in modifying vehicles to operate on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), has announced it has modified and upgraded 900 vehicles during last year.

The Centre, which serves a mixed clientele from both the government and private sectors including ministries, police departments, taxi companies, as well as individual motorists, has modified more than 11,000 vehicles to the duel petrol/CNG model since it was first inaugurated in 2010.

Abdullateif Al Ansari, manager of ET’s Auto Services Centre at Abu Dhabi, stated that converting vehicles to run on CNG represents a firm translation of the company’s sustainability approach, in addition to the dry car wash, tyre retreading and recycling solutions offered by the company, all of which constitute an important addition to the collective efforts exerted at the national level to achieve sustainability and green economy objectives.

Al Ansari said that the steady increase in demand for CNG vehicle conversions, over the last few years, is partly due to increasing awareness about its economic, as well as environmental, benefits. He added that the current steep increase in petrol prices is expected to increase demand for CNG conversion services.

He said: “I think many people are realising the economic, as well as the environmental, benefits of using CNG as an alternative fuel.  

“Operators of transport fleets, as well as individual motorists, can recoup their initial conversion costs within approximately eight months, depending on the distances covered, which of course can be an attractive proposition,” added Al Ansari.  

He pointed out that there are 3 modification centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and 29 fuelling station in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah, noting that modification of a vehicle takes between 4-5 hours only and comes with a warranty for two years or 100,000 km.