Navistar Inc. and natural gas provider Clean Energy Fuels Corp. today, Feb. 1, announced a plan to develop gas-powered medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks and a nationwide infrastructure to fuel them.

The plan includes financial incentives to enable customers to see a quick return on a premium of about $35,000 for the new technology. That’s largely due to natural gas costing $1.50 a gallon less than diesel.

“By the end of 2013, virtually every product we have will be available in natural gas,” said Jim Hebe, Navistar senior vice president for North American sales.

TheNavistar-Clean Energy plan differs from other alternative fuel initiatives because natural gas in this scenario does not depend on government subsidies, said Daniel Ustian, Navistar chairman, president and CEO, during a press conference in Chicago. “It can stand on its own and stand very tall,” Ustian said.

Clean Energy will invest $200 million to build liquid natural gas fueling facilities, said Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy president and CEO. The company announced last month it expects to have 70 stations open by the end of this year in 33 states, many of them at Pilot-Flying J Travel Centers.

The earliest openings will cover major highway segments linking: