Chevrolet prices CNG-ready Impala for 2015

Chevrolet announced pricing for the upcoming CNG-capable 2015 Impala sedan, which can run both on gasoline and compressed natural gas. The sedan will start at $38,210 and will go on sale in late fall of 2014. This version of the Impala will be available in base LS trim as well as the more luxurious LT trim, though Chevrolet has not announced pricing specific to the higher-spec LT model. The CNG Impala will be available both to fleets and private owners.

The bi-fuel Impala will be offered only with a 3.6-liter V6 engine with hardened valves and valve seats, which yield improved wear resistance. Already equipped with a CNG tank mounted in the trunk, the tank will hold the equivalent capacity of 7.8 gallons of gasoline, which should be enough for approximately 150 city miles of range running on natural gas alone, according to Chevrolet. The company projects that the Impala will be able to do 500 city miles using both gasoline and natural gas, though official EPA figures are not available at the moment.

Chevrolet estimates that owners will be able to save nearly $1.25 per gasoline-gallon-equivalent running the car on natural gas, based on current fuel prices. The Impala has been designed to run primarily on CNG and then automatically switch over to the gasoline once the CNG tank is depleted, and drivers will also be able to switch fuel sources by pressing a button on the dash, as with a number of other CNG-capable cars and trucks.

And speaking of other CNG-capable cars and trucks, the Impala's only competitor when it comes to factory bi-fuel capability will be the Honda Civic Natural Gas model.

The 2014 gasoline-powered Impala starts at $27,535 for the base LS model equipped with a 2.5-liter Ecotec engine and climbs to $30,760 for the LT model with the 3.6-liter engine. Pricing for the 2015 gasoline-only models has not been announced yet, but with the Impala entering its second model year, we don't expect its price to stray far from 2014 pricing, if at all.

By Jay Ramey