Magna Steyr's Natural Gas Concept Car

Motoring Channel Staff - 20/9/2005

Magna Steyr took the wraps off its bright orange MILA Concept car at the 2005 IAA in Frankfurt, a futuristic-looking open wheel design whose greenhouse is more like the cockpit from a jet-fighter.

The MILA is a single-seater sports car with a mid-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive, but more than a radically-styled sports car with a hint of F1 race car, the concept is also built to run exclusively on compressed natural gas (CNG).

The aerospace-inspired exterior made of glass-reinforced polyester, and designed by the Magna Steyr Styling Department, conceals an ultramodern, extra light and extra stiff space frame made from aluminium alloy – weighing only around 100kg.

The entire chassis is a lightweight construction made of high-strength steel. Given the consistent lightweight design throughout, the complete vehicle weighs in at around 850kg, and with a 110kW engine it propels the provocative-looking vehicle to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds.

The current version of the MILA Concept experimental vehicle has a closed body with a Perspex bubble over the driver. If the vehicle goes into volume production at a later date, Magna Steyr expects a three-part bubble made of laminated glass would be used instead of the Plexiglas one.

Magna Steyr is confident that natural gas will gain more and more ground as an alternative fuel for road vehicles in the future. A study by the German Automotive Industry Association published in Frankfurt recently came to the conclusion that in Germany alone some two million natural gas vehicles will be licensed in the next 15 years.

According to the study, natural gas vehicles could reach a market share of around 4% by the year 2020.

Magna Steyr says that CNG is available today in sufficient quantities and has many advantages over automotive gas (such as butane or propane). It provides, for example, higher antiknock quality and only has to be cleaned, filtered and dried before use, while automotive gas can only be obtained using complex refinery processes.

Engines reach a higher degree of efficiency with CNG than with gasoline (up to 32% compared with 25%). What’s more, under the stringent Californian emission legislation of 2004, a CNG vehicle belongs to the eco-friendly AT-PZEV category (Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle).

Irrespective of the MILA Concept, which is an initial important step in the right direction, Magna Steyr will focus more on the development of natural gas engines in the future. The engine used in the visually appealing MILA Concept, installed in the rear as a mid-engine, is a standard 1.6-litre 4-cylinder model that was converted to monovalent CNG operation, which means it will run on natural gas alone.

Apart from installing CNG-specific injection valves, no other modifications had to be carried on the original gasoline engine. Its maximum power of 110kW (150hp) gives the lightweight concept vehicle a top speed of over 200km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds.

The fuel tank is a composite CNG safety pressure cylinder (aluminium liner wrapped with carbon fibre) and located safely behind the driver’s seat should there be a crash. In the version on show at the IAA, the tank volume is 76 litres, which gives the vehicle a driving range of around 200km at any one time.

Since a basic principle in Magna Steyr’s corporate strategy is not to market any vehicles of its own, the MILA Concept does not involve any plans or proposals to build a vehicle under the Magna Steyr brand. In fact, the company is seeking an OEM as a partner in the promising MILA Concept project with a view to jointly turning it into a production mature and marketable vehicle. Magna Steyr estimates the time required for production development to be about 23 months.

Already spruiking the concept vehicle Magna Steyr reckons all sorts of people would get into a single-seater 4-wheeled vehicle with impeccable handling and strong levels of accelerations. It cites individualists, techies and lifestylers with a penchant for innovative, original, pioneering vehicles, and of course the more obvious customers would be drivers who are looking for a vehicle using eco-friendly alternative fuels that they can drive in built-up areas.

The company believes 'fresh-air aficionados' who don’t really want to miss the feeling of riding a motorcycle, but still prefer to drive on four wheels (perhaps only because they don’t have a motorcycle licence) with a roof over their heads if need be, would appreciated the MILA concept, and potential buyers who already have one or two conventional vehicles in the family and are interested in something “completely different” as a second or third car – a vehicle with a hint of Formula One fascination, a funky fun car with a sporty look, power and performance but at an affordable price.

The custom-built show car on display at the IAA is a fully-operable machine and can be driven at any time. After the IAA, Magna Steyr is also considering giving the media and OEM representatives the opportunity to test drive the vehicle.

It only took six months to completely develop and build the vehicle on show. All the development steps up to the complete concept vehicle were modelled virtually – including crash performance, fatigue strength, ergonomics, thermal analysis, aerodynamics, and so forth.