1 of 2

Write now Article Tools

Call it what you want, but HYBRID vehicles are the way to go. In the far east, it's called NGV (natural gas for vehicles) in Malaysia or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in Singapore. In Europe, commonly known as CNG, NGV or even LPG basically uses the same types of Gas. It's either Butane, Propane or Methane. To us people on the street, it's the same, used to cook our meals or light up our cigarettes.

Gas conversion kits in UK comprises the following components: The Gas Cylinder and the Conversion Adapter.The Gas cylinder may be in a form of a tank or even hidden in the spare tyre compartment as space constraints may be a mitigating aspect.The Conversion Adapter may be not as simple as it is. If a PETROL DRIVEN VEHICLE is carburettor based, it is just about adjusting the fuel diaphragm and modifying the fuel pump and injecting the natural gas (normally LPG) to the fuel intake valves.This may be used along with an actuating solenoid valve to switch over between the Gas and Petrol Fuels.

In retrospective view, a car using PETROL FUEL INJECTION requires more work, as the intake valves don't do much other than a manifold loop back.Being the injectors heat intensity being great, the explosion risk factor is there, thus the gas is directly passed through a gas regulator and then valves drilled into the injection module and straight to the fuel intake valves for compression and combustion.

For DIESEL FUEL VEHICLES, they utilise the INJECTION method but the Gas fuel in play is different. Propane and Butane can't be used for DIESEL FUEL DRIVEN ENGINES as the combustion requires Compression and Ignition, which is why a spark plug is needed for Petrol. CNG on the other hand uses that method, as it's only combustible with heat and compression.

Both can cost as low as 900 pounds for a conversion kit, but some garage diy enthusiasts even used the old Propane gas tanks for their fuel kit, which is plain dangerous. The conversion Adapter is a no brainer actually but the labour costs and other modification and adjustments to the engine ECU and Balancing will be costly. In contrast fuel for LPG is 40-70% cheaper than Petrol or even Diesel.

In terms of legislation, dual fuel or hybrid vehicles are exempt from Congestion Charge in London.However,having a dual fuel (LPG Driven) till further notice.Though it may not be much, (8 Pounds or 10 pounds if you pay before midnight), it's not as simple as it seems. You will require to fill in the discount application form with 10 pounds registration fee along with the copy of the Log Card (V5C) and the conversion registration certificate recognised by POWERSHIFT.ORG.UK with the completed application form available from TFL.

I feel it should be that the DVLA inform the Transport for London when a vehicle has gone for conversion or special plates for these types of vehicles. For me, I had all my vehicles on the Gas.Savings may be in terms of fuel costs, but all of the vehicles have to use fully synthetic engine oils, and they have to run for at least 30minutes with petrol before they switch over to LPG as the valve seats may be affected and thus totally cause severe damage to the engines. And when they run low on LPG, with about 15% charge capacity left, they have to switch back to petrol by stopping totally and restarting with petrol as fuel instead, otherwise, under supply of fuel will damage the engine.

Learn more about this author, Dr R Azrin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about LPG conversion and the UK London congestion charge?
We want to hear your view. Write now!