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.

Scooters are an efficient way to travel and scooter use in rural areas is supported by the Wheels for Work Scheme. A new brand of scooter has now hit the UK - Vialli. Vialli Scooters run on LPG and achieve about 70miles to a tank costing only £1.90 for a full tank of fuel. The scooters are a cost efficient way to travel and produce around 20% less CO2 emissions than petrol scooters, benefiting the environment as well. Vialli have brought out 8 models costing £1,595(50cc) and £2,195(125cc). Managing Director, Darren Burrows says:

I have already mentioned in last weeks Blog the growing demand for LPG Conversions in Australia. The Australian Government warn people to stay away from unsafe LPG Conversions. In order to clear the backlog of cars waiting to be converted to LPG the Government are introducing a A$1.2million skills package to train more engineers in LPG Conversions. All I can say is Australia is certainly leading the way with LPG and we should be following more closely in their footsteps!

Fuelture constantly stresses the importance of quality when opting to have your car converted to LPG.  And we are not alone; Powertrain, Calor, Birmingham Trading Standards, MG Rover Group, LP Gas Association and the Energy Saving Trust are warning the public about the dangers of getting an unapproved LPG Conversion.

Recent research unveiled that 19 out of 20 cars converted by an unapproved garage proved to be potentially dangerous.  The industry is looking to introduce a licensing scheme in addition to the LPGA list of approved installers.  MP, Melanie Johnson commented:

Following the LPG Conversion subsidy, over 10,000 Aussie’s have called the LPG hotline number to make enquiries and 87% of the callers are desperate to convert - Sydney Daily Telegraph.

The surge in demand has resulted in the staff handling the calls growing from 4 to 90 people and the demand for LPG cars from the manufacturer has also increase by 10,000 vehicles. The waiting list for having an LPG Conversion is around 2 months, encouraging more mechanics to become qualified in LPG Conversions.

Raising the profile of LPG even more in Australian… Ford set a challenge of completing a lap of the country in an LPG car on a fuel budget of $1000. The 14,000km trip was completed with a pocket full of change left over!

Subaru have announced that the Tribeca will now be available as an LPG Car. The German Chairman, Jens Becker, boasted that “significant savings could be achieved without a loss to performance, comfort and safety.” The LPG Subaru will be launched in Europe later this year.

The press are reporting that there has been a drop in demand for SUV’s and other gas guzzling cars; perhaps Subaru is making the right move to improve the emission standard of these cars.

Sources: RawStory

The Scotsman reported today that there has been a recent increase of interest in LPG Conversions for Cars. Jim Currie reported that

“Word is spreading of a green solution to running a car that has no apparent snags.”

Fuelture’s own, Gbenga Kogbe (Managing Director) gave a comment to the Scotsman stating that,

“We can fit an LPG conversion to the average family saloon for around £1,900 adn a typical 4×4 for £2,300…This is inclusive of VAT and we would expect to have the vehicle in our workshop for four to five days.“

The article covered cost, performance, availabilty, approved converters and environmental issues. The article has been posted on our online magazine should you wish to read more.

Approved LPG Conversion Specialists are fully booked for 2006 since the Australian Government introduced the LPG Grant Scheme. Robert Cowan, The Gas Man, Sydney told an Australian Newspaper

“We’re already booked out to January so I don’t know what we’ll do”

This is great news for the environment and LPG Converters. However, not so great if you want your car converted. Australian’s will need to wait 5 months for a conversion date which is not good enough for some. Motorists are being warned about the dangers of not having an approved conversion. LPG Cowboys are taking advantage of the increase in demand leaving some drivers with poor qualtiy conversions and LPG systems. Bad conversions and dodgy equipment can seriously damage the car, costing a lot of money to repair. Moral - only have an LPG Conversion from an approved dealer!