Another two Flogas LPG stations gone
 

Two more Flogas sites (were countrywide) have gone from the network, Swindon (which is an a*5e as that was my local one) and Glastonbury. With the one at Cirencester gone when Flogas took over, Membury having gone (again) and Calor shutting their Swindon depot it is all getting a bit sparse around here. One filling station left in Swindon... Before long I can see we will be back to dodgy practices of refilling with hand pumps from cylinders like people were doing in the 80's.....

Its getting more and more sparse around here in Portsmouth too. There's no money in it to keep up the maintenance. We will probably be soon back to unleaded fuel only which is a shame as if this government was really convinced about improving air quality then they would have a multi strategy, which included supporting the conversion of cars to LPG.

The problem is there is no strong industry lobby group to write and engage with MPs. Even when we stop drilling for oil, there will still be gas produced in this country from landfill and elsewhere.

I urge everyone to write to your MPs and demand that LPG is part of our climate strategy alongside electric vehicles which are not as green as is made out when it comes to recycling the batteries

I sold my much loved v70 that was LPG converted when the last station near me closed. I could have kept going on petrol but there wasn't much point when I had brought the car for reasons of economy.

I wonder if LPG was a victim of its own success? Many people jumped on the bandwagon and offered conversations that were at best badly thought out and at the worst dangerous and so the reputation of LPG was forever tainted.

We had a local chap doing them on the cheap and the standard of his work was awful. I fitted a few kits to my own cars (jaguar xj40 and series Landrover) and I consider myself competent but many others weren't.

Sad to see it going, I do think that it could have been a major part of the rush to be greener.

I would never consider a LPG vehicle after all the bodged cr@p I have been in over and over again.

So yes, very sadly I think you are on to something. I know engineer types who have really planned and selected their LPG kit, sometimes installing it and getting it certified after. They tell me the oil comes out clean 6,000 miles later, great economy and really easy. But I never saw that, all I saw was poor quality installations with no end of problems.

I know what you mean, I am ex-motor trade and saw many poor jobs. What also didn't help was many garages would blame any running issue on an LPG fitted car on the LPG system.

My local garage has done just that. Whenever the car has gone in with an issue, he has blamed it on the LPG, whereas a simple search has usually found hose has popped off or a vacuum leak.

I had a recent problem with hot starting, which was presumed to be the LPG system but, after some research on here was the Water Temperature Sensor.

Its like nasty farts being always blamed on the dog!

I did my own conversion twice and it was certified. Whilst there are issues with the HT system (it’s a carburettor engine so the ‘dry’ spark is much more prone to damp air in the winter) the overall Bigas system is excellent. And yes, the oil comes out clean even after 12k miles.

I've seen far more lash-ups than any decent installs, I've just inherited one of them, a real mess. LPG and the buyers that wanted cheap conversions dug a grave. Not withstanding that the garage-trade could find ways to blame any fault on the LPG install.
When good it's brilliant. LPG done right is what took me onto CNG, that was years back. But it's less of an instant-fix, thus not for all. EV is, and is seen as cool etc etc.

Rightly or wrongly, the EV crowd are going to win this one, in fact it looks like they have. As the pile of EV cars with battery cost at more than the residual-value builds-up, and it's set to be the next diesel scandal.

What has killed LPG is the lie we were sold about diesel and the lie we are now being pushed with EV's

LPG/CNG is not the whole answer but is part of the answer at least for now it should be

Diesel is the right fuel for HGV's and many comercials with possibly the option of LPG blend
LPG/CNG is currently the best option for most rural and long distance
Electric is perfect for town cars
Compressed air is also another great option for town cars. Not as efficient but removes all the negatives of battery production/disposal
Hydrogen is almost certainly part of the future answer

The biggest issue is governments are only interested in pushing new cars rather than keeping old cars going to reduce the overall pollution impact

I have noticed it is getting harder to find when out and about. The limo will be getting a second tank added to increase the range. Our 240 tow car is already twin tanked to cover the long runs.

There are now only 2 filling stations left on the island with one being on my door step. The one just off the island has gone silly expensive so I refuse to use it.

Worst case I will end up home filling

Why would a government support a strategy that is already so unpopular that the network that provides the fuel is shrinking apace?

It's defeatist, yet I'm afraid you're right. There's less money in it, and Govt. is not about to do anything. LPG is set to wither on the vine... sale ends soon, while stocks last etc. Politicians listen to the louder voice, the noise comes via EV, thus count on a scaled-up charge network.

Okay I am looking at maybe picking up an LPG converted car, what do I need to look out for?

The conversion looks neat under the bonnet but other than knowing it's converted what should I be worried about?

Do a heap of reading, a good one, properly installed is a beauty to behold. A bad one, will see you doing it again. If you're prepared to do the leg-work, good. The way you've worded your question leads me to think you're not. You appear to want a potted-answer, over a day of reading.

Better you know what you're looking at. This requires effort. Else, it's very easy to find yourself with a lash-up with every trait LPG gets its poor reputation from.

Else, for you this is a pig-in-a-poke.

Lpg uk
 

Nice debate, yes sadly Gov will now push EV.

Range is an issue and time to charge.

Batteries ironically are enviromental concern.
They also depreciate quickly and costly to replace.
Buy that time a newer car will be best. So alot of wasted production.

LPG will hopefully come back into favour.

I'm in the SW UK. Still some stations with reasonably prices here.

2007 XC90 4.4 LPG.

Where's your reference for the highlighted text?

I was chatting to friend whom works in EV department for AA.

The battery tech is improving for sure.
But the a very expensive to replace and their life is alot less than that or the car.
By the time u need to replace the tech has improved and thus making it move feasible to buy a new car.

So the industry will become more focused on new cars rather than like internal combustion engines where we hang onto to older cars for alot longer..
etc

Anyway it is a generalisation..

There certainly is a place for EV around town. Long trips LPG should be more handy. Even better to have an LPG range extender.

Another point to bare in mind is tax and surcharges, infrastructure.

As a Point in HK LPG is not viable due to space for LPG refilling stations needed..

I'll try google reference for u later when I get time.

LPG came popular in 2000s and 2010 more than it had ever been.

Many friends jumped on the bandwagon and the installations were always unreliable and awkward. If a fuel existed with similar performance and half running costs manufacturers would be all over then.

Vauxhall and Saab gave it a go for couple of years and no one else did.
I wouldn’t touch an lpg vehicle, so unreliable and rubbish.

Thats odd, I've had four now and all have been reliable and superb.
Discovery V8 (4.6 transplant)
Discovery V8 (3.9)
Mercedes Vito (2.0l)
Volvo V70 T5

All systems serviced once a year at a cost of around £50.