Several other makers, such as VW, offer their cars new and already converted — but only in mainland Europe. Worth doing if you are keeping the car for several years, and even more so if you do a bigger mileage than us. However, a conversion makes even more sense if you run a less fuel-efficient car than ours. Running your car on LPG is cheaper than petrol or diesel. The technology is proven and we find that once drivers give LPG a go they never go back.
He says it is important to use a quality kit and a tried and tested installer. Once we have replaced it with one of ours, their car runs trouble free. It's no surprise that many of those converting run SUVs or big executive cars that can now be bought cheaply as a result of high petrol prices. With a conversion to gas, you get to drive a luxury car with the running costs of a Mondeo.
People looking to convert face a huge choice of installers, systems and prices. Look for a firm with a sound reputation, and beware anyone who says it can be done in a day. Our Prins system feels it will last the car's lifetime, although time will tell. We will report back on how the car is running, its costs and any problems in the next few months. LPG: It's lean, green and cheaper too. He looks at the whole process and assesses if it's worth it. Photograph: Lottie Brignall. The car The car is our Toyota Avensis estate with a 1.
What was done to the car? How does it drive? The all-important costs Before the car was converted, it was achieving around 38 miles per gallon — depending on the journey type. Filling up Despite the perception that LPG is hard to find, we've had no problem filling up over the past few months, apart from in rural Wales. The environmental case Besides the financial benefits, there is a strong case for moving over to gas on environmental grounds — a big motivation for us.
So who should convert? On a recent trip to the West Country, in Bristol it was 65p a litre. A few miles down the road they were charging 78p.
Our two nearest garages, five miles apart, charge In Luxembourg this summer we paid 53p. The key to making LPG work for you is to locate a cheap local source.
Website FillLpg. It can be a pain sometime to detour for a fill-up. Other running costs have been small. Most insurers don't load premiums for properly-installed LPG systems, and ours — the Co-operative — was no different.
Petrol or LPG … do the fuel cost savings add up? Photograph by Lottie Brignall. In , the government came on board and offered rebates to owners who had LPG systems installed on their vehicles or purchased new LPG-fuelled models. Ford and Holden offered factory-installed systems on Falcons and Commodores until local manufacturing ceased in But automotive LPG sales have been declining over the past decade and now account for just two per cent of total automotive fuels sold in Australia.
The rebate offer introduced under the Howard Government was withdrawn in after years of low take-up. In , an excise was introduced starting at 2. In the s, LPG installation was a relatively easy conversion process carried out by workshops that had the appropriate accreditation.
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