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LPG opinions - What's stopping people converting?

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Tysonboss1

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12 November 2007
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I was driving around sydney today, and I was looking around to see how many cars on the road are running on LPG, and surprisingly there is not that many.

With petrol prices trending up for the last 5 years and every man and his dog complaining about petrol prices, why are lpg cars so few and far between.

I Myself have been driving on LPG now for over 3 years and think it's absouloutly fantastic.

I would love to here any one elses opinions on.

1, whats stopping you converting.

2, are you planning on converting.

3, what are your thoughts since converting. etc etc
 
Re: LPG opinions,.... What's stopping people converting.

All vehicals I purchase are company converted.

Now to the real problem for businesses who run Trucks (most businesses do).
Diesel.
It costs me $535 a tank on my tippers and floats
$360 on each excavator.
I have a few.

If your running a B double its just rediculous.
If you want to see an economy grind to a halt just watch what diesel at $4 a litre will do.
Just try to imagine the implications.
 
Re: LPG opinions,.... What's stopping people converting.


We're living the implications here in China where we struggle to get diesel now. Diesel for irrigation comes mostly from the black market now. The problem is because Crude is so expensive in relation to the selling price of diesel, the refineries don't want to sell it at such a loss so they hold it back and wait for price increases. This is creating even more demand in the price. Its a vicious circle.

Cheers,

CanOz
 
nioka said:
1. I need my boot space.
2. It would take too long to recoup the cost and by then the government will probably decide to tax gas at a higher level.
Click to expand...

These are the first 2 things people say in response to switching to lpg however,..

1, you really don't lose that much boot space,... in my commodore it's probally 30%,.... and when you think about it, is that extra bootspace really worth paying $50 a week more in fuel than you have to, and if you have to you can always get a tank under the car.

2, In response to recouping your money,... think of it like buying a $2000 investment that pays $50 a week dividends it pays for itself in the first year,... it also adds to the resale value.

3, Inresponce to fuel excise tax,.... Currently there is no excise on lpg, starting from 2011 Lpg will have an excise of 2.5cents increasing each year till 2015 where it will be 12.5cents per litre,... unleaded curently is 38cents per litre. so even by 7years time your still paying less than half the tax of petrol.
 
Re: LPG opinions,.... What's stopping people converting.


Do they use autogas in china.
 
Alot of people i talk to about it say safety is an issue for them, they think
a gas tank is more dangerous than a petrol tank.:dunno:
 
So_Cynical said:
Alot of people i talk to about it say safety is an issue for them, they think
a gas tank is more dangerous than a petrol tank.:dunno:
Click to expand...


yeah,... thats another thing that I here too,... although gas tanks are actually as safe or safer than petrol tanks,.... there have been numerous fuel tank related fires and stuff in accidents and refuelling.
 
I will be converting soon.. Payback in 12 months, less if fuel prices keep going up, $2000 rebate by the government. Would seem absolutely crazy not too.

It's probably the only way I would be able to sell my car eventually also, if fuel was say $3/L in 2-3 years, so I have been thinking of that aspect also.

People have been purchasing a lot of smaller fuel efficient vehicles, but by the time you add up the depreciation soon as it goes out the showroom, LPG conversion on my existing larger car is much more cost efficient. Oh, and if a loan is required for purchase, interest rates right now are hideous, adding to the total cost of buying a new car.

Seem to be a lot of falsehoods, and "I heard from a mate" regarding LPG - maybe this scares people off?
 
Re: LPG opinions,.... What's stopping people converting.

Tysonboss1 said:
Do they use autogas in china.
Click to expand...

Yes, in some cities they do and they are developing the infrastructure to support more cities, mostly with mass transit though.

Cheers,


CanOz
 
It doesn't really stack up in my case. Petrol costs me about $800 a year at the moment (premium at $1.649 per litre).

Small car gets 15km on a litre (driving up to 110 so not being intentionally economical) and I don't drive that far. I'll be walking home from work tomorrow.

Autogas at 83.9c per litre would be a saving but It's not huge and I'd lose a lot of functionality of the vehicle (fold down rear seats) so it doesn't really stack up for me.

I use LPG for cooking (stove top only - oven is electric) though. But then I wouldn't really want to try cooking in the house with petrol. Seem to be using about 2.5 litres a month (roughly) at a price of $1.60 a litre at the hardware shop where I get it. It costs a bit more elsewhere. A bulk cylinder works out at $1.27 per litre but with low use and the rental charges as well it's not worthwhile. Also it wouldn't fit where I have the two small cylinders now.
 
I saw a kit that uses the same gas as you use in your home. So you can pretty much have the refueling station at your house. The upside is that your car can be duel fuel so you don't get stuck without being able to fill up. I think it is a CNG kit maybe? I should probably have written it down.
 
Sounds like CNG. Allowing a bit for the electricity used to run the compressor, it works out at the equivalent of petrol at roughly 60 cents a litre so it's certainly cheaper than petrol, diesel or LPG.

You'll obviously need to have natural gas (not town gas or LPG) piped into your home in order to use the kit. And the price will depend on how much you pay for natural gas.
 
Had a company car several years ago that had been converted to gas.
It was like driving a tank, not to mention the loss of boot space.
 
I am not quite sure the lack of boot space would be an issue for a 95% of people on their daily commute. I could count on my fingers the amount of times my boot has actually been fully utilised in about in the last 2 years. Does everybody pack their boot full every day? What useful can you carry in a sedan anyhow? hmm, strange that this is considered an issue.

LPG systems have also improved significantly over older ones, with direct injection leading to much less power loss.
 
Julia said:
Had a company car several years ago that had been converted to gas.
It was like driving a tank, not to mention the loss of boot space.
Click to expand...

what do you mean by "it was like driving a tank".
 
gfresh said:
LPG systems have also improved significantly over older ones, with direct injection leading to much less power loss.
Click to expand...

I have never been able to notice the difference in power between pertrol and gas,... I flick between petrol and gas at the press of a button any how.

when I first got my car converted i was always comparing petrol to gas on accelration, going up hills, towing my trailer trying to see if i could notice this "big power loss" you here people talking about ( mostly people that drive petrol cars) and I have never once been able to notice any difference,

the only main difference is that you burn about 20% - 30% more lpg than pertrol,.... but thats nothing, cause if you add 30% to the price of lpg at todays prices in makes it 78cents compared to petrol at $1.70,....... you would have to really love that boot space to keep paying that sort of premium.
 
moXJO said:
Pram space
Click to expand...

the tank doesn't have to go in the boot,... you can get it mounted under the car,.... offcoarse that costs a bit more, but if you really need the boot then it's an option.

At the moment I am dual fuel, but I am actually thinking of getting rid of the petrol tank and replacing it with another gas tank, so my car is gas only.
 
I have been waiting for a gas system that gives close to petrol performance. Looks like its finally becoming available, liquid gas injection. I could never see the point of buying a fuel injected vehicle and then basically putting a carby on it to use gas.
Steve
 
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