In the current light truck logistics market, traditional fuel vehicles are facing a continuous shrinkage in profit margins due to the dual squeeze of rising oil prices and falling freight rates. Users’ demand for alternative energy sources is becoming increasingly urgent. Although new energy light trucks can reduce usage costs, their higher prices and application bottlenecks in medium and long-haul scenarios have restricted their pace of full substitution. When the industry is seeking a way out of the “oil-electricity dilemma”, the Forland Pilot gas-powered light truck is opening up a third development path for the market with its unique advantages of both economy and scenario adaptability.
The latest data shows that from January to May this year, the market share of Forland Pilot gas-powered light trucks has reached 34.13%. For every 3 gas-powered light trucks sold, 1 is from Forland Pilot. Users’ actual choices not only confirm the hard-core strength of Forland Pilot products in terms of performance but also mark that its position in the gas-powered light truck track has been recognized.
CNG and LNG Join Forces to Win the Market with Economy
In recent years, the explosive growth of gas-powered heavy trucks has proved the market potential of natural gas power. Forland Pilot Trucks keenly captured this trend, took the lead in laying out the gas-powered light truck product line, and replicated the successful experience of gas-powered heavy trucks in the light truck field.
In June 2024, the Forland Pilot Big G-CNG light truck was first aunched, achieving a range of 500 kilometers with dual 180L gas cylinders, precisely targeting the needs of high-frequency and short-distance transportation scenarios such as urban distribution, supermarket logistics, and building materials transportation. Just half a year later, the Forland Pilot Big G-LNG light truck was released. Through the design of a 240L gas cylinder combined with a 15L fuel tank, the range was significantly increased to about 1,100 kilometers, effectively covering express delivery, medium and short-haul, and even intercity long-haul transportation scenarios, becoming a versatile hand to replace traditional fuel transport capacity. This differentiated layout of CNG and LNG complementarity has successfully avoided the limitations of a single energy form and achieved all-round penetration of the mainstream transportation scenarios of light trucks.
The core driving users to choose gas-powered light trucks lies in their outstanding economic advantages. The comprehensive gas consumption of the two main models of Forland Pilot Big G is controlled at about 0.5 yuan per kilometer. Compared with diesel vehicles, the energy consumption cost can be reduced by about 50%. Based on an annual driving distance of 60,000 kilometers, users can save about 20,000 yuan in operating costs. More importantly, it also has significant competitiveness at the purchase end. Take the Forland Pilot Big G-LNG model as an example. The starting price of 116,600 yuan is basically the same as that of mainstream fuel light trucks, which is far lower than that of pure electric models. This not only greatly reduces the user’s initial investment threshold but, more importantly, effectively avoids the hidden costs of pure electric models such as charging time, queuing waiting, range anxiety, and potential order loss caused by them, making the user’s economic benefits more direct and reliable.
Technological Breakthroughs, Performance surpassing Leads Operational Freedom
The high market share of Forland Pilot gas-powered light trucks stems from its deep cultivation of technology. Although gas-powered light trucks have significant advantages, the development path is not smooth. Technical bottlenecks such as power, carrying capacity, and reliability have long restricted their market penetration speed.
Shidai Pilot Trucks has successfully solved the industry’s pain points through systematic technological breakthroughs. Take the Forland Pilot Big G-LNG light truck as an example. It is equipped with a Dewei G20T turbocharged engine with a power of 150 horsepower and a torque of 350N·m. It strengthens the low-speed and high-torque characteristics, significantly improves the vehicle’s power response in starting, overtaking, climbing, and other working conditions, and changes the impression of traditional gas-powered light trucks being weak in power. The matched optimized gearbox and the industry’s first equipped reverse synchronizer greatly improve the shifting smoothness and reduce driving fatigue. In terms of bearing and safety, the 750L high-strength steel frame combined with the integrated precision-cast rear axle significantly improves the vehicle’s bearing capacity and durability. The emergency braking distance of only 24 meters at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour is 35% better than the national standard, building a solid safety foundation for efficient operation.
These upgrades have significantly improved the user’s order receiving freedom, extended the gas consumption advantage of gas engines to more transportation scenarios, and truly transformed energy-saving benefits into operational benefits for users across the industry. However, Forland Pilot Trucks’ exploration of the performance boundaries of gas-powered light trucks is far from over. The upcoming Forland Pilot Big G-F28T high-power product marks another disruptive leap in the core performance of gas-powered light trucks. This model is equipped with the latest F28T large-displacement turbocharged engine, with 190 horsepower and 460N·m torque, achieving a major breakthrough in power performance about 30% ahead of similar products, which will completely reshape the market’s inherent perception of gas-powered light trucks as “underpowered”.
As the current industry’s largest horsepower gas-powered light truck, in addition to the power leap, the Forland Pilot Big G-F28T has also achieved a simultaneous upgrade of the bearing system. On the basis of continuing the 750L high-strength steel frame and 180 girder design, it uses a 6-ton integrated precision-cast rear axle and thickened multi-leaf spring suspension. The measured bearing capacity is increased by 16.7%-33.3% compared with similar products, constructing a hard-core architecture of “strong power + high bearing”, and becoming a reliable solution to meet the extreme transportation needs of mountainous areas and complex road conditions.
With a super-high market share of 34.13%, Forland Pilot Trucks has undoubtedly secured the top position in the field of gas-powered light trucks. With the launch of the Forland Pilot Big G-F28T light truck with disruptive performance breakthroughs, it will once again lead the new trend of gas-powered light trucks and create greater value for users.
