IMPCO Automotive, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of cost effective alternative fuel components and systems, announced that it has ramped up production of its compressed natural gas system designed for Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana Cargo vans due to increased demand. Production began earlier this year at IMPCO’s OEM fleet conversion facility in Union City, Ind., and has been increasing steadily with customer orders on the rise.
The ISO-9001:2008-certified alternative fuels conversion business was acquired by IMPCO Automotive in August 2010 from Productive Concepts International. The 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility has been reconfigured into a high-volume conversion plant. Current offerings include bi-fuel and dedicated liquefied petroleum gas, as well as bi-fuel and dedicated CNG units for several customers, including General Motors.
“We are proud to have launched the Chevrolet/GMC CNG van project in close cooperation with GM in record time,” says Rob Lykins, IMPCO Automotive director of sales and marketing. “We have worked diligently with GM over the past eight months to design and test this vehicle to GM’s highest safety, durability and reliability standards, including crash testing. We are certainly pleased with the results, and we believe our customers will be as well.”
One of the first major fleet orders received by GM and built at the IMPCO Automotive Union City Plant was an order of 101 Chevrolet Express 2500 Cargo vans for AT&T, to be used in its customer service fleet. AT&T previously had announced a goal to deploy 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles by 2018.
“As more of our customers transition their conventional fleets to more fuel-efficient and reduced-emission vehicles, we will continue to provide a one-stop shop to help them achieve their business and environmental goals,” says Brian Small, general manager, GM Fleet and Commercial Operations.
Each Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana CNG van is covered by GM’s three-year 36,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty and five-year 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. “These vans also meet all Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board emissions certification requirements, and are fully compliant with applicable motor vehicle safety standards,” says Rick Nielsen, IMPCO Groups general manager.
