LPG Series conversion

[Qhriss]

Well , been over ten years , saved a lot of money on fuel as its a petrol 2 1/4 , however noticing fewer and fewer LPG Shell garages offering it now .  Anyone notice or recommend a LPG station near M25  J4 to J21 ?  As my works are more over that side of the World now .

 

Cheers , Q

[elbekko]

https://www.mylpg.eu/

https://www.mylpg.eu/stations/united-kingdom/#map

An excellent site (and app) for finding LPG around europe (including UK).

[Qhriss]

@elbekko cheers mate , will check them out , Q

[missingsid]

My local Shell garages (2) have dropped it one for Hydrogen instead. Luckily I have the only southern ASDA with LPG near to me.

[mickeyw]

Alas all my local (within 15 miles) stations have stopped selling LPG. These were all Shell places. I also used to have a local indy car repair garage that sold it, but that went a few years ago. They were on my way to work, which was dead handy. I haven't used LPG for a couple of years now. I started with it in 2001, which was when the first local source appeared. I think I made good use of it while it lasted.

Luckily I no longer run a V8 as a daily, and also I now seem to be mostly working from home. Having 3 cars on the road seems hard to justify really.

[=jon=]

BP made the choice to remove all of their LPG tanks from their BP-owned filling stations a few years back - there's only a few franchises around that still have them.

Shell announced recently that they are removing theirs as they refurbish the stations, which is really annoying for me as there was a station within half a mile of work, and another one on the motorway mid-commute that I could use. Both are now gone

Since countrywide went bust and Flogas picked up their LPG network they seem to be running it down as well - the local Countrywide became a Mole Farm Stores, and the LPG tank has now gone.. There's still a few places locally that I can fill up, but it's harder to not have to make a special trip to fill rather than there being somewhere en-route. 

It's a shame really, I don't think it's going to be that far into the future that LPG stops being a day to day usable option

[missingsid]

IIRC for BP it is the choice of the franchisee but BP owned won't have them

[Wytze]

Here in the Netherlands it's allso harder and harder to find places to fill up on lpg.  

[Daan]

I used to fill up at my local Calor gas station when I just arrived in the UK. This meant only filling up during normal office hours.

Availabilty was one of the main reasons for me to convert to diesel.

Maybe you can use replacable Calor gas bottles for forklifts?

 

Daan

[missingsid]

1 hour ago, Daan said:

I used to fill up at my local Calor gas station when I just arrived in the UK. This meant only filling up during normal office hours.

Availabilty was one of the main reasons for me to convert to diesel.

Maybe you can use replacable Calor gas bottles for forklifts?

 

Daan

Not sure that is legal or insurable on road? You need a certificate of installation compliance.

[=jon=]

There's no certification needed for LPG systems - from what I understand it's a 'myth' propagated by the UK LPG register of installers...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lpg-liquid-petroleum-gas-vehicles/lpg-liquefied-petroleum-gas-vehicles

Quote

In the UK, there is no statutory regime for inspecting the safety of aftermarket LPG installations before use on the road or at the annual roadworthiness (MOT) test.

...

Whilst there is no statutory regime for inspecting the safety of aftermarket LPG installations, there is a voluntary code of practice published by UKLPG and some insurance companies may ask for some form of certification before granting cover.

Calor / Propane cannisters are considerably more expensive than filling up with Autogas, unfortunately!

[Snagger]

I had been thinking that with the political mindset against diesel, would a tuned 2.5 petrol on LPG be a better option that trying to sort out my 200’s oil burn, but this thread sadly answers that.  It’s a real shame that those who installed LPG systems in good faith were rewarded by enormous price hikes and now this.

[=jon=]

Yep - it seems a shame that it's been abandoned as it's a lot cleaner than diesel (and petrol), reasonably easy and quick to fill / package / transport and from what I understand the propane is a by product of the oil industry so also cheap to produce...

[Blanco]

Depending on mileage and number of vehicles you are using  it is still possible to install your own bulk tank if you have the space. I struggled for local supply in France, and probably would have gone that route if my Californian RR County had been admissable in the Republique. Ultimately that would probably save/shave a bit more off the mileage costs, given a long enough period.

[missingsid]

15 hours ago, =jon= said:

There's no certification needed for LPG systems - from what I understand it's a 'myth' propagated by the UK LPG register of installers...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lpg-liquid-petroleum-gas-vehicles/lpg-liquefied-petroleum-gas-vehicles

Calor / Propane cannisters are considerably more expensive than filling up with Autogas, unfortunately!

Except every insurer has asked for a copy of mine as a requirement or no insurance!!

[missingsid]

15 hours ago, Snagger said:

I had been thinking that with the political mindset against diesel, would a tuned 2.5 petrol on LPG be a better option that trying to sort out my 200’s oil burn, but this thread sadly answers that.  It’s a real shame that those who installed LPG systems in good faith were rewarded by enormous price hikes and now this.

Prior to this was its removal from London Congestion Charge exemption! Can't support a big V8 4x4 just because it has LPG and is cleaner than a hatchback. Greenpeace would be up in arms. The council argument is probably that they cannot guarantee it is running on LPG or petrol.

[=jon=]

15 minutes ago, missingsid said:

Except every insurer has asked for a copy of mine as a requirement or no insurance!!

I've never been asked for it (which is good, as I don't have one!)

[Landrover17H]

17 hours ago, Snagger said:

I had been thinking that with the political mindset against diesel, would a tuned 2.5 petrol on LPG be a better option that trying to sort out my 200’s oil burn, but this thread sadly answers that.  It’s a real shame that those who installed LPG systems in good faith were rewarded by enormous price hikes and now this.

Go G20,  I did.

I'm afraid peak LPG came and went 15 years back, factory-fit stuff was made by Ford. Vauxhall, Volvo etc - filling was fairly abundant. These days because electric is not viable for anything heavy, the HGV boyz are looking for green points. The bigger operators run LNG etc and LPG is set to fade.

Led by taxation changes, LPG was killed by deseasel. I ran LPG for a while, but lucked upon an ice-rink Zamboni and then looked to the larger fork-lift fleets. These don't run LPG for very clear reasons. Like me, they use their piped-in gas supplies. I converted and I've never looked-back.

The rest is history. Piped into my home I've been running natural-gas for nearer 15 years, the outlay and learning-curve is very steep, and you're be on a heap of US, Indian, German and Italian forums to pick it up, but if you're intending to drive the thing... I'll never grasp why anyone shouldn't, but that's me.

Yes you could go the other way, plumb a LPG bulk-tank but I wouldn't. Flogas Calor etc will crucify you in a bleed-you-dry contract. You'd still need a pump anyway, this to push the liquid to your vehicle tank. These pumps are not cheap. As an aside, I was forced to heat my [off-grid] home with a bulk-tank. It's 'orrible. They have you by the balls, and will squeeeeeze. Pay or freeze. Nope, don't do it...

The stereotype, doing 1500 miles a year, is an LR parked in sight of a white-plastic Disneyland front door. Spattered in juvenile shonk, he's thinking instant-gratification, thus 1500 miles this year instead of 50,000 in 5 years. Our friend is certainly not thinking in terms of the fuel bill for a motoring-lifetime. Hence, this bigger-game solution won't suit the majority.  NG plays long-game, and yes, the outlay and learning-curve is very steep. Very steep. But you'll never regret it.

In this country for reasons I can't truly grasp, the UK has an anti on NG, it's over-looked. It's not Guardian-reader like say, electric. Greta Thunberg is their Joan of Arc and she's won't be a fan.

But for me, yup... G20 it is.

I've just noticed that my left-field posts are now under moderation, hence this will likely be my last. Good luck.
 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Landrover17H

[Blanco]

I take it that G20 is CNG? Interesting...... just looked it up and Ireland has a filling station (Dublin port) with plans to expand.... who knew? I suppose the alternative is a compression facility at home, what is the road tax situation then?