LPG (liquefied petroleum Gas) is a fuel which can be used in converted gasoline cars. You get slightly less pollution, costs are less but you get slightly less mileage and power. The mileage loss is offset by the lower cost of LPG.

i live in a 3rd world country. LPG has been used for decades to fuel kitchen stoves. LPG is bought/delivered in steel tanks from 1 liter in size to several tens of liters in size. Shops that supply the tanks are common.

gasoline driven cars have been converted to LPG here and they have good reviews. But where can you fill up? The great majority of LPG vehicles are taxis and buses who have their own LPG stations in their headquarters.

I've seen some LPG conversion kits. They have a custom made tank in the trunk. My idea is to simply lose the custom made tank. Just weld a steel cage in your trunk and place a household lpg tank inside. Make sure the cage is strong so you wont get incinerated if some car rear ends you. Advantages: reduce initial costs, much faster filling, you can buy a new tank almost anywhere instead of hunting for a station that refills LPG
-- vmaldia, Aug 09 2006

+ relatively low cost to convert. It seems to be a bit lower cost for fuel. I read some things about farmers running their tractors on lpg for 50 years and thinking that lpg was easier on engine wear also.
-- Zimmy, Aug 09 2006


I've seen several lpg or propane converted vehicles; typically, they use one or two 20-gallon (80-some liters?) "forklift"-style propane tanks (although, in my experience, propane is sold by weight, not volume). This is not a difficult or expensive conversion, there are kits available for do-it-yourselfers. Propane has considerably less energy content than gasoline (a gallon of gasoline has 114,063 BTUs and a gallon of propane has a 84,332 BTUs), so a 20-gallon propane tank is probably equivalent to a 15 gallon gasoline tank. Tanks can usually be exchanged or refilled at the same outlet that refills "household" tanks. There may be safety and legal issues about using "household" or "industrial lift truck" tanks in a motor vehicle.
-- whlanteigne, Sep 30 2006


Hi guys, I see you have very mixed ideas about LPG. I my country you can refuel LPG almost at any fuel station and half of all cars are using this fuel. My car too, and my fuel cost is about half of that with gasoline.Driving properties are almost unnoticeable. - stan, March 2007
-- stan, Mar 12 2007



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