The economics of LPG conversion
LPG conversion is not just a trend that environmentally conscious groups have been advocating for years. This modality of letting vehicles run on liquefied petroleum gas instead of gasoline or diesel has proven to be a hit with other types of consumers.
In fact, various governments around the world have offered subsidies to consumers who volunteer to convert their gasoline cars to LPG. This is a small but welcome relief for a good number of vehicle owners who may find the cost of conversion to be quite steep. Also, the cost of the conversion should be viewed as an investment, as there are a fair amount of benefits in store for vehicle owners who do so.
Obviously, the impact of using LPG is felt on the environment, as vehicles that use LPG instead of gasoline emit very little exhaust gas and pollutants into the air. With the urgency of action to save Mother Earth, the increasing use of LPG should signal a shift in the desire of more consumers to stick to alternative fuel sources. More importantly, although the cost of converting a vehicle to LPG from gasoline can be high, the costs pay off in the long run. This is because the cost of LPG per liter is noticeably more affordable compared to gasoline.
The response from the public has been positive, and more and more workshops are offering to carry out the service at excessively low costs. This should set off an alarm for consumers who are practical and want to save on converting their vehicle to LPG. They need to be careful, as overpriced LPG conversion services can become scams by garage owners who want to make easy money on a rapidly growing trend.
Leaving aside the actual costs of conversion, the factor that attracts many vehicle owners to turn to LPG is the long-term fuel cost savings that a good number of owners of vehicles running on LPG have attested to. Are the savings really remarkable, or are they minimal, only to be offset by the good feeling of patronizing an environmentally safe product?
On gasoline, a typical car will average about 12 liters per 100 kilometers. In gas, the figure will increase until it approaches 15 liters. But then, even though a vehicle would require more LPG to run, the multiplied costs per liter would still add up to savings for LPG users in the long run. Also, the conversion would make more sense for vehicles with larger engines, as they consume more fuel. If the annual mileage of a vehicle is 10,000, the cost of 5.5 liters per 100 km of gasoline (equivalent to 550 liters) would be even higher than the 700 liters of LPG consumed in a year.
