What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[Sveedy]

I was in a bad construction LPG explosion 20+ years ago. It blew most all of the windows out of the house, sent a couple of pairs of french double doors 30 ft out in the snow, changed the color of the kitchen cabinets, and put me in the burn ward for a few days. Then months off work. The stuff just gives me the willies. That said I still cook with it. Just don't know how I feel about sitting in a vehicle with it piped around me.

[BlackBart]

YOW!

[Ocelot]

I was in a bad construction LPG explosion 20+ years ago. It blew most all of the windows out of the house, sent a couple of pairs of french double doors 30 ft out in the snow, changed the color of the kitchen cabinets, and put me in the burn ward for a few days. Then months off work. The stuff just gives me the willies. That said I still cook with it. Just don't know how I feel about sitting in a vehicle with it piped around me.

Wow, that sounds horrible! So if I get it right, in the US they use LPG to warm houses? We mainly use LPG for cars and it's very safe because of the strict yearly inspections. Back in the old days, like 20-30 years ago, you weren't allowed to park such vehicles in parking garages et cetera, but that's in the past. Like I said, in the Netherlands you'll find LPG in a lot of cars, new and old, because gasoline prices are a bit 'cray cray' over here. LPG only costs somewhere between 50 and 60 cents per liter, where gasoline is at 1.60 euros

I'll gather the photos of the LPG proces and start a new thread

[Cookeh]

LPG in cars used to be big over here, and in fairness the cost per litre is still quite low (78p per litre, vs 113p). The issue is installation costs are typically north of £2,500, so it takes the average driver approximately eight years of driving to break even (assuming 30mpg and 8,000mi per annum). Factor in the biennial inspection and its associated costs, and its really just not worth it in the UK, even more so when the average Brit changes car every 3-4 years.

*Maths completed on a napkin, some errors may present

[Ocelot]

LPG in cars used to be big over here, and in fairness the cost per litre is still quite low (78p per litre, vs 113p). The issue is installation costs are typically north of £2,500, so it takes the average driver approximately eight years of driving to break even (assuming 30mpg and 8,000mi per annum). Factor in the biennial inspection and its associated costs, and its really just not worth it in the UK, even more so when the average Brit changes car every 3-4 years.

*Maths completed on a napkin, some errors may present

Well, there are some big differences between your country and the Netherlands. First of all, it will cost me around 1600 pounds (I converted from euros to pounds) to get the system build in the car. Then, a liter LPG costs around 50-60 cents, a liter of gasoline on a good day 1,55 euros and on a bad day 1,65 euros (in pence thats 137/146p). I drive around 20000 kilometers per year which translates that it takes me somwhere around 18 months "before I have my money back" (don't know how to translate that to English, but you get the picture).

[abscate]

Ocelot , I think our phrase ‘ break even’ is roughly your ‘ kostendekkend’ ?

[Ocelot]

Break even, thanks! That's the one!

[ZionXIX]

My Google research indicated that LPG has a very octane equivalency of over 100 so I wonder if these high compression ratio turbo cars really like that fuel better that the typical 91 gasoline im limited with.

[Sveedy]

LPG is really only used for heating etc in rural areas of this country where LNG might not be as readily available. Quite a few municipal fleets also use LNG for fuel. LPG does burn cleaner, from what I understand, than gasoline. However I don't have any data, but I get the feeling that there are more explosions with LPG relative to gasoline, compared to the amount of general use of each.
Personally I would be more interested in doing away with the internal combustion engine all together and do an electric conversion. Insane amount of work, but if it could be done......

[bmdubya1198]

Just had a discussion about this on Swedespeed... with all these scientists, why can't someone come up with an alternative, clean burning fuel for gasoline? That's obviously the best solution... it keeps all the cars on the road that are already here. Less waste, and it cleans up emissions!
And what ever happened to hydrogen? That's been the best of all the solutions I've read about.

The garbage trucks around here run LNG, but that's about it. I've always been kind of surprised that we don't have any other alternative fuel systems in the US.