Marco Ferretti, A.E.B. Alternative Fuel Electronics Sales Manager, talks about the new trends for electronic devices for CNG vehicles, the last products of his company and also analyzes the main virtues of A.E.B.

After more than twenty successful years in the market for CNG and LPG, What is the A.E.B. Alternative Fuel Electronics evaluation on the world market of electronic devices for converting vehicles to CNG? What are the new trends?

   The market of electronic devices for converting vehicles to run on CNG has been growing exponentially during these last 10 years. Starting as a niche market run essentially by Italian and Dutch companies, it has grown to a global and mature business. From South America to Eastern Europe passing through China and India nowadays we can find a wide range of competitors, even considered the differences among their quality and range of products.

   The new trends follow the technological evolution of  fuel engine vehicles that requires CNG systems fit to operate on the newest On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) systems and on direct-injection engines, whose  spreading is growing steadily.

What are the main products developed by the company to the CNG market?

   In 1984 the activity of A.E.B. started with the development and production of a device that allowed to convert vehicles to run on CNG without manually handle the distributor at every fuel switching. This is how A.E.B invented the timing advance processors that have been a core component of the CNG market since then. Today A.E.B. has the widest range of timing advance processors  whose software is programmable according to the type of vehicle and engine. Next to the timing advance processors we obviously offer a complete selection of injection ECUs, emulators, sensors, injector rails and complementary products.

How is the insertion of A.E.B. in the international market?

   A.E.B. is a market leader for design and building of electronic devices. Through its direct distributors and the manufacturers of complete kits, for whom A.E.B. supplies the electronic parts, our company is active on more than 50 markets in different continents. The supply of  many O.E.M. (for in-line and 0-km applications) is a concrete evidence of A.E.B. influence.

One of the strengths of the company is its Technical Assistance Service. How it works?

   Our technical assistance guarantees all our customers with daily support by phone, fax and email. Moreover we organise periodic training courses at our distributor’s worldwide. Another key factor is represented by the technical support offered to our clients at the moment of type-testing and passing the emission-tests according to the different standards required by each market.

How are the latest emulators developed by A.E.B.? What has been its impact on the market?

   They are tailored products aimed to very specific uses (i.e.  fuel pressure/fuel level emulators etc.). Nowadays standard emulations are generally already fitted on the last generation of injection systems.

What are the projects that the company has for 2011?

   A.E.B. keeps improving its injection systems for direct-injection and flex-fuel engines. In the meantime it researches and develops new products to keep in track with the next generation of vehicles launched on the market.