The Lemon Fool

With hybrid and all-electric cars in the ascendancy, is there still a niche for lpg as a fuel, or is it going the way of Betamax?

I ask because a garage I used to buy lpg from (to fill lpg cylinders for the motorhome, rather than run the car) has closed its lpg pump after it was damaged and appears to have no plans to repair it any time soon.

VRD

Its use as a road fuel will probably end before either diesel or petrol in the UK because it is consumed on much lower quantities.

Some campervans have integrated lpg tanks for cooking, heating etc. which need filling at a garage. If lpg loses popularity as a vehicle fuel then the demand from campervans is unlikely to be enough to sustain them so they'll struggle to find it.

Scott.

swill453 wrote:Some campervans have integrated lpg tanks for cooking, heating etc. which need filling at a garage. If lpg loses popularity as a vehicle fuel then the demand from campervans is unlikely to be enough to sustain them so they'll struggle to find it.

Scott.

Yes, mine has two lpg refillable cylinders for heating, cooking hot water and for the fridge, if we're not on an electric hook-up. It costs £6-£8 to refill a cylinder from empty, as opposed to swapping an empty calor gas one for a full one at about £20 - £25 for the same size. I just drive up to the lpg pump and connect the nozzle to a fixed port in the van, so no direct attachment to the cylinder (which a lot of garages won't allow as they think you are trying to fill using a home-made connector, which can get a bit exciting!).

Just wondering whether I'll need to swap one cylinder out for a calor gas cylinder so that I can get a refill if lpg is not available locally.

VRD

swill453 wrote:Some campervans have integrated lpg tanks for cooking, heating etc. which need filling at a garage. If lpg loses popularity as a vehicle fuel then the demand from campervans is unlikely to be enough to sustain them so they'll struggle to find it.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emis ... at-is-lpg/ has an unflinching run-down on both the pros and cons. Comments include higher servicing costs, difficulties in reselling a converted vehicle, and being banned from the Channel Tunnel (and assorted places abroad, including some underground car parks). And apparently you only get a tenner off your VED.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:

swill453 wrote:Some campervans have integrated lpg tanks for cooking, heating etc. which need filling at a garage. If lpg loses popularity as a vehicle fuel then the demand from campervans is unlikely to be enough to sustain them so they'll struggle to find it.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emis ... at-is-lpg/ has an unflinching run-down on both the pros and cons. Comments include higher servicing costs, difficulties in reselling a converted vehicle, and being banned from the Channel Tunnel (and assorted places abroad, including some underground car parks). And apparently you only get a tenner off your VED.

That article seems to be about converting vehicles to be driven by lpg, which isn't what I was talking about. I was referring to fitting lpg tanks instead of using Calor gas cylinders for cooking and heating in a campervan. Some campervans also have this as original equipment, even if the engine is diesel.

There's no problem with them in the Channel tunnel as long as the gas is switched off.

Scott.

swill453 wrote:That article seems to be about converting vehicles to be driven by lpg, which isn't what I was talking about. I was referring to fitting lpg tanks instead of using Calor gas cylinders for cooking and heating in a campervan. Some campervans also have this as original equipment, even if the engine is diesel.

Agreed, I wasn't really addressing your particular point, but was pondering on the bigger question suggested by the OP. My bad.

There's no problem with them in the Channel tunnel as long as the gas is switched off.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

I'd hazard a guess that canal marinas and so forth will continue to refill gas bottles from tanks for long after the garages have finally given up on cars. But that wouldn't be nearly enough coverage to meet the campervan owners' needs.

BJ

The big agricultural retail outlet near us (very big, sells tractors and combined harvesters) has a big LPG tank that they fill other large LPG tanks from.
Possibly other big agricultural retail outlets will have the same?

Slarti