4 ms·

LPG had the same problem as electric cars. In the early years there was no infrastructure and so if you buy one you're an early adopter and you can't actually g

by bluGill 4mo ago

LPG had the same problem as electric cars. In the early years there was no infrastructure and so if you buy one you're an early adopter and you can't actually go anywhere. It took a while to get that infrastructure and now electric cars are useful for most trips. You can use LPG cars to go for most trips in the US even today. However, you better plan ahead because finding a place of fuel is going to require some effort. I had a few LNG stations near me, but they seem to have all been torn out, meaning that never made it. Gas cars faced the same thing when they first came out but by the time they became used for longer trips there was gas everywhere and in the meantime there was gas at least where you bought the car and so it was good enough for the short trips that bought it for.

ErroneousBosh 4mo ago
That was kind of it. Until maybe five years ago, every branch of Morrison's had two LPG pumps at their petrol stations, as did Asda. Now it's mostly wholesale fuel suppliers that have pumps.
wolvoleo 4mo ago
LPG was really popular in Holland, that wasn't the problem. You could get it everywhere. It was cheap too. There were just some artificial issues: - The government didn't want LPG owners to be cheaper off (it was much cheaper per kilometer) so they raised road tax substantially making it only economical if you drove a lot - There were no cars running on LPG off factory. You always had to deal with an aftermarket install with a big tank that took up half your trunk. It didn't replace the original tank because that was needed for starting, though part of it could have been replaced by LPG storage. After all you didn't need 80 litres of it. They didn't do that however. Some cars had donut tanks installed (for the LPG) that fit in the spare wheel space but they were tiny and you had to fill up constantly. - Engine performance was significantly reduced on LPG. - The tanks were pressurised which were a bit dangerous and didn't store a lot of mileage for the space. You couldn't fill them up 100% either. High pressure vessels and high energy collisions don't go well together. You can design around that but because the only options were aftermarket the cars were never designed with this in mind. - After fuelling the hose was pressurised and when you released it it blew a whole bunch of gas in your face. Yuck. I used to kick the release lever from a distance but it didn't really help. We had one for a while but it was kinda a clumsy affair. Lack of places to fill up was however not a problem at all. Despite all the artificially created barriers it was still a common choice for the high mileage driver in the 90s and early 2000s. I don't think it's really a thing anymore. EVs have taken over this space. It was never a great solution anyway as it's still a fossil fuel causing CO2 release. It was never really going to be a permanent solution.
- ErroneousBosh 4mo ago
  Engine performance is actually increased on LPG if you do it properly. It's less energy dense, so you use more of it, but you get a bigger slower bang, giving you more torque. You need the timing a bit different. The tanks are far safer than the leaky plastic yoghurt pots that people carry petrol around in under their cars. They can't explode, they can't be ripped open, they can't even be dented. I have attempted to knock a hole in one with a 16-tonne excavator and only succeeded in squashing it a little bit. I've taken LPG tanks out of burnt-out taxis that were still half-full. They're not even under any pressure, they're at 8 bar or so. The main danger if the gas gets out is that it's really really cold! It's still a fossil fuel causing CO2 release but it's a fossil fuel that would just be burnt in a flare stack if you didn't burn it in a car. No-one is going to stop making propane, as long as we make plastics and fertilisers.

by bluGill 4mo ago

ErroneousBosh 4mo ago

That was kind of it. Until maybe five years ago, every branch of Morrison's had two LPG pumps at their petrol stations, as did Asda. Now it's mostly wholesale fuel suppliers that have pumps.

wolvoleo 4mo ago

LPG was really popular in Holland, that wasn't the problem. You could get it everywhere. It was cheap too. There were just some artificial issues: - The government didn't want LPG owners to be cheaper off (it was much cheaper per kilometer) so they raised road tax substantially making it only economical if you drove a lot - There were no cars running on LPG off factory. You always had to deal with an aftermarket install with a big tank that took up half your trunk. It didn't replace the original tank because that was needed for starting, though part of it could have been replaced by LPG storage. After all you didn't need 80 litres of it. They didn't do that however. Some cars had donut tanks installed (for the LPG) that fit in the spare wheel space but they were tiny and you had to fill up constantly. - Engine performance was significantly reduced on LPG. - The tanks were pressurised which were a bit dangerous and didn't store a lot of mileage for the space. You couldn't fill them up 100% either. High pressure vessels and high energy collisions don't go well together. You can design around that but because the only options were aftermarket the cars were never designed with this in mind. - After fuelling the hose was pressurised and when you released it it blew a whole bunch of gas in your face. Yuck. I used to kick the release lever from a distance but it didn't really help. We had one for a while but it was kinda a clumsy affair. Lack of places to fill up was however not a problem at all. Despite all the artificially created barriers it was still a common choice for the high mileage driver in the 90s and early 2000s. I don't think it's really a thing anymore. EVs have taken over this space. It was never a great solution anyway as it's still a fossil fuel causing CO2 release. It was never really going to be a permanent solution.

ErroneousBosh 4mo ago
Engine performance is actually increased on LPG if you do it properly. It's less energy dense, so you use more of it, but you get a bigger slower bang, giving you more torque. You need the timing a bit different. The tanks are far safer than the leaky plastic yoghurt pots that people carry petrol around in under their cars. They can't explode, they can't be ripped open, they can't even be dented. I have attempted to knock a hole in one with a 16-tonne excavator and only succeeded in squashing it a little bit. I've taken LPG tanks out of burnt-out taxis that were still half-full. They're not even under any pressure, they're at 8 bar or so. The main danger if the gas gets out is that it's really really cold! It's still a fossil fuel causing CO2 release but it's a fossil fuel that would just be burnt in a flare stack if you didn't burn it in a car. No-one is going to stop making propane, as long as we make plastics and fertilisers.