Cavagna Group’s Enerkit has been featured on BPN.
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Cavagna Rolling Out Growth Initiatives
Cavagna Group (Brescia, Italy) returns to Atlanta this month-not only with its iconic and race winning LPG-fueled Fiat 500 Abarth that premiered last year- but with its just-introduced ENERKIT line, small-engine products enabling conversions from gasoline to LPG. The target market includes a wide range of applications, from yard trimmers and blowers, to walk-behind mowers and snow blowers. Additional applications include free-standing power generators and water pumps, riding mowers, and industrial vehicles.
ENERKIT is part of a push Cavagna is putting on “Greengear” products that include mowers, weed wackers, generators, water pumps, and pressure washers with engine ranges from 30cc to 250cc. Catalogs will be available at the Atlanta show this month, while the full product line is scheduled for introduction at the 27th World LP Gas Forum in Miami this October. “As an industry partner we’re promoting the flexibility of fuel sources,” said Rich Darche, president of Cavagna North America. “Our industry, in order to boost gallon sales, needs to sell more products, and Cavagna is very focused on introducing propane-fueled alternatives.”
The roll-out of the ENERKIT line, the company comments, is the result of its Alternative Fuel System Division’s commitment to supporting the increased use of LPG, thereby promoting a healthier and greener way of life. By replacing the gasoline carburetor, ENERKIT enables engirres to easily convertto LPG, offering the consumer the immediate benefits of proteering the environment and money savings. The conversion provides lower emissions and odor, reduced engirre maintenance, and greater convenience. ENERKIT’s clean connection to an LPG cylinder also eliminates spilled gasoline.
The line features a range of products in two categories, ENERKIT Basic and ENERKIT Plus. ENERKIT Basic is designed for dedicated two and four-stroke engirres from 20cc to 450cc, and is based on an LPG carburetor.
The carburetor is installed between the air filter and the intake manifold, like the traditional gasoline carburetor. Three models are offered: a kit for handheld tools, such as trimmers, fueled by 1-lb cylinders; walk-behind mowers; and free-standing equipment such as generators connected to cylinders.
The ENERKIT Basic carburetor provides pressure reduction through a two-stage regulator to stabilize and ENERKIT Basic ENERKIT Plus vaporize the liquid gas, and adjusts pressure to Ievels required by the engine. A shut-off valve stops fuel supply when the engine is off, and a gas vacuum stage works in tandem with the shut-off valve. A cam and bayonet throttle system opens and closes fuel flow mechanically according to acceleration.
The ENERKIT Plus line converts 250cc to 850cc four-stroke engines, such as on forklifts, riding mowers, and industrial sweepers. Cavagna has developed two configurations: dedicated and bi-fuel. The dedicated system, for installation by original equipment manufacturers only, integrates the functions of gas supply in the LPG mixer, eliminating the carburetor and fuel tank. The bi-fuel configuration, primarily for aftermarket conversions, uses a traditional gas mixer inserted between the air filter and the gasoline carburetor.
ENERKIT Plus is available in vaporphase and Iiquid-phase withdrawal.
Fiat 500
As noted, Cavagna’s Fiat 500 Abarth, converted by the company’s autogas partner Bigas International Autogas Systems (Calenzano, Italy), will be making a return engagement in Atlanta this year. The sporty subcompact recently won the first race of the Italian Alternative Energy Championship in Primiero and San Martino di Castrozza, Italy, which took the vehicle about 175 miles over snowy dirt roads. The vehicle also won nine special time trials.
The Cavagna-Bigas Abarth also won the second edition of the Tesla Rally in Serbia, the fifth race of the Alternative Energy World Championship.
The feisty Fiat 500 bested an Alfa Mito and a Toyota Prius. Bigas International produces components and complete LPG and CNG automotive systems. The company is UNI EN ISO 9001 certified.
Cavagna and Bigas, a global autogas equipment provider, last year formed a strategic partnership in order to consolidate their presence in the autornative industry. Cavagna’s strategic partnership with France-based Siraga, a designer, manufacturer, and installer of equipment for automated filling, refurbishing, handling, and palletizing LPG cylinders, will also be highlighted at the Atlanta convention. Signed late last year, the partnership was aimed at optimizing each companies’ product offerings to the market and creating a business structure to handle the entire supply chain of LPG, both for domestic and industrial use-from equipment to retail stations and service.
The agreement covers sales and marketing in the selected markets of North America, South America, the Middle East, and the Far East. Cavagna Group supplies filling heads and new products developed by Siraga’s research and development department, while Cavagna’s applications in residential, industrial, medical, commercial, and alternative fuel markets are open to Siraga. The aim of the partnership was to optimize time, costs, and contracts, increasing the groups’ global competitiveness and market reach. “Both companies’ products are well matched and create a strong, combined selection of favorable elements for our customers,” said Eric Batise, Siraga general manager. “Together, they can offer broader accessibility and better coordination among equipment, accessories, and services to the worldwide gas business.”
Added Davide Cavagna, Cavagna Group CEO, “When a partnership between two well-known companies is able to produce such tangible results, that means an improvement of both organizations’ image and credibility. We are proud to add Siraga’s products …. ”
Cavagna North America’s Darche observed that while his company is aggressively pursuing strategic partnerships to broaden its market reach, it remains focused on promoting its regulators and full range of ASME and DOT valves. Meanwhile, the Siraga alliance allows it to reach out to marketers seeking to automate their cylinder exchange operations, and to those incorporating autogas into their company profile with Bigas technology offerings.
“Cavagna is absolutely focused on coming up with alternative-fuel products,” he said.
“We are a very progressive company that welcomes new ideas and innovations, and we are in this business for the lang pull, with an eye 10, 15, 20 years down the road. Our planning isn’t just about what is good for our company, but what is good for the propane industry.”