Anyone own a LPG vehicle?? LPG vs Diesel??

[stalker]

Just wondering if anyone on here owns or drives a LPG powerd vehicle??

If so, can I ask, how much milage do you get out of a tank?? (and how much does that tank cost roughly?)

Why I ask is cause im doing up a business plan, and im trying to find out what would be better to do:
1) get a new Hiace in petrol, and pay the $3-5k setup of LPG and run that
2) or to just go with the diesel van.
There will be lots of stop/start driving, so no "power" is needed at all, it will be just a case of what will be the cheapier to run in the long run.
Ill also be doing on average 100kms per day.

Cheers

[Bling]

new van or old van?

the new diesels get some pretty good mileage

Hit up a taxi driver that uses LPG as to how much running costs are perhaps? That will give you best idea i reckon. LPG prices have gone up a bit so it may not be the cheapest in the long run anymore

[stalker]

Has to be a new shape van...2005 onwards. (according to the contract)

Yea, thats a really good idea that! cheers
Last time I was at shell, I looked and LPG was $1.06 per liter..think diesel is about $1.50 odd now?? (cant remember, must look next time im there)

[Bling]

I should really know all about the gas... being a gas fitter, but its use in cars isn't something I deal with. I know however that litre for litre, LPG has less energy than petrol

[Crampy]

Go the Diesel.
Then if you have a mate in the business, run it on a mix of diesel and AVTUR (jet fuel)

[deaf_rattle]

diesel for sure. available at more places.

milage with lpg is crap. sure its cheaper, but you get alot less ks with it.

and if you ever run out its a pita!

There are on going costs with lpg too, gotta keep the tank and system up to spec and cert valid otherwise some places wont let you fill up.

[TRD Man]

Talk to an LPG installer who will have an economy calculator to show you how cost effective it is and calculate the payback period for the installation.

I believe that the consensus is that if you use your vehicle for less than 20,000km per year it is simply not economic to convert whereas if you travel over 50,000km it most likely is.
If your usage is between these figures, which is probably most of us, a number of other factors will come into play.

A couple of days ago an installer was relaying a conversation he had with a taxi driver whose payback period for the kit was about 11 months, which would suggest that his savings were about 4 grand a year.

Evidently Rockgas account customers can charge their installation costs through their gas account so the impact isn't so severe.

[ae82gt]

my work ute is lpg / diesel, brand new hilux getting 800- 900 km a tank of diesel with 18 litre of lpg depending on ya driving , goes like a cut cat to top gear motors in cambridge (toyota sevices) do the converisons

[fangsport]

in our fleet of late shape rentals, by the time you add the RUC and dearer REG the petrol vans are cheaper to run.
also, be very wary of late model imported diesils. there is issues with the emiisions system that allows the sump to fill will fuel if used on short burst running. does not effect the NZ new or imports that do open road kms

[gmacrae]

screw diesel, lpg is an awesome fuel. If the car's dedicated and set up properly it'll go better on lpg. Filling up isnt a problem, there are enough cop cars, cabs and barbeques out there to ensure lpg stations are everywhere. You do lose mileage, though only about 5-10 percent vs the same amount of petrol - its a no brainer if you're doing a lot of miles.

[ee904age]

Oops never mind