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Knowledge
Service: All
Speciality:
All
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From
2005
our cars are now all running on LPG. From 2005 to 2009 we drove a
dual-fuel BMW Z4 before switching to the Toyota Aygo featured here
today. |
What is the deal with the car?
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- A
vehicle that runs on BOTH Petrol and LPG is termed 'dual-fuel'. It
starts on Petrol until warm then automatically switches to LPG
(Liquid Petroleum Gas)
- With
Mileage of about 7,000 per year the reduction in annual fuel costs
are around £1000 due to the lower Tax on LPG
- Annual
CO2 savings are 16% over petrol whilst hydrocarbon
(soot) emission
are down by 40%.
NOx
emission savings are 80% & Carbon Monoxide emission savings are
35%
- Installation Costs (+tax) were £2,200. Payback period is 2 years
- Some
Cars qualify for a grant in the UK (as well as exemption from
Congestion charging) plus you also get a reduction in your annual
Car Tax.
- Annual Car Tax on the "alternative fuel" Toyota Aygo in 2010 was
just £15
- The Insurance premium is under £200 per year fully comprehensive
- The Toyota Aygo is rated at 108g/km CO2 but the LPG reduces this
to 92g/km
- Hence the Aygo is cheap to run and yields extremely low
emissions
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Engine
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 Not
all Cars have as much space under the bonnet as this small car. Hence,
if you are considering a dual-fuel installation make sure that you have a
bit of space up front. Having said this, the LPG equipment takes up very
little space. Most, if not all cars that currently use Petrol can be
converted. Even the most sophisticated of luxury cars. It will not
increase your Insurance costs. It will not invalidate your Warranty so
you can still get your car maintained at your local dealership.
Here
we see the engine bay after installation of the
PRINS LPG equipment. Hidden at the back are the Injectors to the
engine. During operation the Car will switch over automatically to LPG
from Petrol when it is warm. This doesn't take long. There is no
difference in performance - just half price motoring and the comforting
thought that you are improving your country's balance of payments
whilst pumping out 2.34 tonnes less CO2 per year. |
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Boot
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 Autogas
requires a
pressurised cylinder to hold a supply of LPG in
addition to your normal petrol tank. Here we see the boot with the tank
in the spare wheel well. There is space for a tank holding 30l
gross although you can only fill it up to about 27l. This will
yield up to an approx 240 miles
of range. In July 2010 you could fill the tank at a motorway
service station for about £18. Choose a far cheaper option such
as a major Supermarket in the UK (Asda is good) and this cost
will drop to about £14 for a full tank. This is really cheap
motoring.
THIS car obviously has no spare so utilises a pressurised foam
can for emergencies. The positioning of the 'donut' tank in the
spare wheel well leaves the entire bootspace free. Although the
Toyota Aygo is a micro-compact there is space in this boot for
one large piece of luggage and a laptop computer bag. |
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Filler & filling
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 So,
where do you fill the tank? It varies from fit to fit but most
cars simply have a filler cap co-located with the petrol cap.
This is not possible on all cars and on the Aygo we had it
discretely fitted under the rear bumper with all LPG piping
running under the car. The LPG flows into the tank via a small
hole in the middle of the spare wheel well.
How do you know it is full? Well the Autogas pump simply
stops pumping - much as with petrol. There is a small addition
to your dashboard - a small fuel gauge using small LED's. These
are only a rough indicator and drivers familiar with LPG keep an
eye on mileage as a better indicators of when to next fill up.
This small combined indicator and switch shows how full the gas
tank is and allows you to switch over to petrol manually.
However, this is rarely necessary. You treat your petrol tank as
your "spare" which can actually yield 400 miles of range if you
leave it full up. |
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More Information
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-
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is a
mixture of Propane and Butane. When used as a Vehicle Fuel it is
often referred to as "Autogas". The simple chemical make
up of the gases ensures that they are clean burning.
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LPG is produced as a by-product in
both the extraction and refining stages of oil production. In the
past it has been considered waste and flared off. It is particularly
abundant in the North Sea's 'wet' crude oil.
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Consequently the UK is Europe's largest producer, producing 6.4 million tonnes in 2001. Of this
over 3 million tonnes were exported. Only 50 thousand tonnes (7.75%)
were used as Autogas. The rest was used for domestic or agricultural
heating or in chemical or refinery operations.
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