Last week’s hot topic on the news was the Liberal Democrats change to Richmond’s Resident Parking Policy. Fuelture is currently investigating to find out if LPG cars will benefit from this change to parking policy in Richmond.

The yearly cost of residents parking is currently £200, Richmond is now basing the parking fee on a cars emissions, with the greenest cars parking for free and high emission cars paying up to £750. Also, having more than one car per household will cost an extra 50% for the second permit. Click here to find out how much your emissions would cost you to park in Richmond.

The Lib Dem’s are approaching the Cabinet next Monday to seek approval for the scheme and believe that this will be an incentive for more people to opt for greener cars and have a positive impact on reducing the effects of climate change. Watch this space for an update on what this means for LPG cars.

The Australian Government has spent more than $2.6million encouraging Aussie’s to convert to LPG. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this figure is the fact that no advertising expenditure has gone on T.V. ads; LPG promotions have been purely print and radio driven.

Fuelture has kept an active watch on the Australian LPG market since the introduction of the $2,000 subsidy in August this year. With the demand for LPG conversions resulting in a two month waiting list, and over 10,000 enquiries into LPG conversions. Perhaps the large advertising budget can be justified by the success of the scheme.

Once again we see manufacturers like Hyundai are pushing LPG cars in other markets, while the UK seems to be missing out. Hyundai just announced that they will be partnering with the Itochu Group to push LPG cars in Japan. Together, they plan to initially target taxi and rental companies. Japan has some 300,000 LPG cars on the road supported by an infrastructure of 1,900 LPG stations, so Hyundai’s efforts seem to be targeted at more mature automotive LPG markets.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could rent LPG cars over here in the UK?

Seoul City, Korea is the next large city to crack down with congestion charging. Air pollution caused by car exhaust fumes is an issue for most cities in the world now and Korea have introduced an innovative driving scheme aiming to reduce the air pollution levels. Drivers will receive a 50% CC discount for taking part in the scheme known as “No Driving Day“. Motorists are expected to abandon their cars for one day each week and are rewarded with this CC discount. The scheme sounds great in theory, however as the No driving cars are only marked with a paper sticker; it is proving difficult to track whether or not motorists are sticking to the No Driving Day promise.

Alternative fuel vehicles, including Electric, hybrid, solar and fuel-cell cars are fully exempt from the CC in Korea. LPG and Diesel Oxidation Catalyst cars receive 50% discount regardless of whether they take part in the No Driving Day scheme.

More and more cities are introducing CC and other methods to encourage motorists to switch to greener driving habits. With London looking to expand the CC zone further, is it time for you to consider you motoring options?

Green car congress reported last week, since gas prices have dropped - less people are searching online for fuel-efficient cars and returned to their previous bad habits (i.e. Hummer searches have risen by nearly 15%).  It wasn’t long ago that the demand for gas-guzzling cars dropped dramatically.  Alternative fuel cars are cheaper to run, however surely the environmental impact is important to consumers too.  Gas prices have dropped, but the emissions these larger cars produce are still a lot more than cleaner fuelled cars.

The following chart was taken from Green Car Congess that shows the change in online car searches.

The East Bolton Local Link is piloting a new LPG public transport system. The LPG Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Minibus ferries people between the Royal Bolton Hospital and local areas. Nigal Palmer, Divisional Manager for Facilities at the the hospital is extremely pleased with the move towards a greener transport service for patients, visitors and hospital staff:

The Guardian just announced that another insurance company, Yes insurance, has started to offer discounts to drivers of greener (hybrid) cars. This is the kind of band wagon we like to see insurance companies jumping on. Wondering about insurance for LPG cars, we have an interesting article in the Fuelture online LPG magazine.

Green Car Congress reports that the City of Boston have launched the CleanAir Cabs Programme. The first hybrid taxi is now in service in Boston, however it is not enough. Concerns about this programme lie with the willingness of fleet operators to pay the added expense for cleaner vehicle technology. Taxi drivers will benefit from cheaper running of the cars, however the actual fleet owners may not be so keen to pay out more on the initial cost of the cars, despite the obvious environmental benefits.

Three alternative cars have been approved for the CleanAir Cabs programe: the hybrid Toyota Camry, the hybrid Ford Escape and the CNG Ford Crown Victoria. The CleanAir Cabs will have a green strip on the body of the vehicle to increase the public awareness for the taxis.

At Fuelture we are constantly telling our customers that LPG will NOT affect the performance of their car. Don’t take our word for it, see for yourself…

LPG Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 0-100km in 6 seconds

LPG Audi S8 - 0-100km in 5.04 seconds