For the first eight months of 2021, U.S. and Canadian Class 8 natural gas truck retail sales rose 24 percent year to date against a somewhat unfair comparison of the same period in 2020, according to ACT Research’s AFQ: Alternative Fuels Quarterly. For context, total U.S. Class 8 sales were up 28 percent for the same period.
“Sales of NG-powered vehicles as reported by the six major truck OEMs, who account for approximately 60 percent of the heavy-duty natural gas market, were mixed in the June to August time period, with June experiencing a sizeable sequential gain and even more impressive year-over-year growth,” says ACT Vice President Steve Tam.
“July natural gas Class 8 vehicle sales volumes suffered large declines, also reducing the YTD increase, while activity in August recovered, returning to solid short-term improvement, despite lagging the year-ago comparison by a small margin. Looking at the most recent month, sales spiked 68 percent month-over-month, but were 4 percent lower than the year-ago level.”
The ACT AFQ provides insight, analysis and trends about alternative fuel/power adoption for the U.S. heavy- and medium-duty commercial vehicle markets. It is designed to give quick insights to anyone with an interest in the evolution of power and alternative fuel use for heavy vehicles. The AFQ details such adoption considerations as fuel prices, fuel/charging infrastructure development, equipment prices/products/technological developments, and regulatory changes. NG truck sales data and a forecast for new natural gas adoption are included.
“Besides sales, the Alternative Fuels Quarterly analyzes the change in existing and planned alternative fuel/power infrastructure and equipment developments. We’re seeing an overall increase in electric charging stations, both existing and planned, but a continuing decline of total natural gas stations, particularly those planned for the future,” says Tam. “That said, we continue to see articles about natural gas use in transportation, as well as discussions about hydrogen fuel cells and investments in electric commercial vehicle development, making trade-industry headlines.”
