Hexagon Composites awarded new automotive supply contracts
PRESS RELEASE
Hexagon Composites wholly owned Norwegian subsidiary Hexagon Raufoss has been awarded a new contract from a leading US passenger car manufacturer for the serial supply of CNG high-pressure composite cylinders. The value of the contract is NOK 90 million over a 4 year period.
The lightweight composite cylinders will be supplied to a production plant in Latin America and will serve as fuel tanks for a popular compact passenger car model running on natural gas.
"With over 5 million natural gas vehicles on the road traditionally steel cylinders have been used for the after-market conversion of passenger cars in Latin America. With a large OEM introducing composite cylinders for the first time to its global vehicle platform in this market, the Latin American NGV market has opened up for Hexagon", says Director of Sales Frank Häberli.
With 70% lower weight compared to a steel cylinder the composite high-pressure cylinder allows the car manufacturer to compete with lower CO2 classification and higher fuel efficiency. Corrosion and fatigue become a thing of the past for fully composite type 4 cylinders. In consequence of avoiding the inconvenient and costly periodic retesting of the cylinder, the vehicle owner will achieve competitive life cycle cost as the major benefit.
According to the confidentiality agreement with the car manufacturer Hexagon Composites will not announce the name of the company.
Supplying BRC Sweden
Hexagon Raufoss is a leading manufacturer of composite CNG cylinders and delivers fuel cylinders to Daimler and GM models. The company has recently received an order from BRC Sweden to supply cylinders to the conversion of Ford Focus to run on natural gas or biogas conventional. The company is currently supplying BRC Sweden with cylinders to the conversion of Subaru. These additional volumes will lead to further efficiency gains in production and strengthen competitiveness.
"The leading design and technical performance of our products meeting the high quality standards of the automotive industry set the stage for further expansion into the global NGV markets", states Ragnar Holthe, Managing Director Automotive at Hexagon Raufoss.
Hexagon Raufoss CNG system
Hexagon Raufoss AS (previously known as Raufoss Fuel Systems AS) further manufactures lightweight composite type 4 bus storage systems and gas transportation modules for CNG and biogas.
Glossary:
Type 4 cylinder: Composite high pressure cylinder with polymer liner
OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer (car manufacturer)
NGV: Natural Gas Vehicle
Conversion: Adapt a vehicle for use of conventional fuel to an alternative fuel
For more information:
Frank Haberli, Director of Sales, Hexagon Raufoss AS
Telephone: +47 92 08 86 74 | E-mail: fh@rafs.no
Ragnar Holthe, Managing Director Automotive, Hexagon Raufoss AS
Telephone: +4797074245 | E-mail: raho@ragasco.com
Solveig D Saether, Communication Manager, Hexagon Composites ASA
Telephone: +47 906 34 977 | E-mail: solveig.saether@hexagon.no
Hexagon Composites ASA is a publicly listed company with its head office located in Ålesund. The Group has 374 employees and in 2011 had sales of NOK 992 million. The Group develops and produces composite containers for the storage and transport of various gases under pressure and multiaxial composite reinforcements.
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