Why automakers aren't switching to gas
Why are cars with LPG not mass-produced?
Several reasons why cars with LPG are not produced on an industrial scale
Features of different types of gas - another difficulty in conveyor production of cars
It is not passenger cars that are transferred, but commercial vehicles (for example, buses). The second type of fuel is a propane-butane mixture, which is in a liquefied state. This is the most popular and widespread type of gas, to which the vast majority of car owners switch their cars. Each type of gas requires its own equipment, which complicates the continuous production of such vehicles within one plant.
As a result, installing gas on a car is not at all profitable in mass production, but it is very cost-effective in each particular case. With medium and long mileage, the money invested in upgrading the car will pay off very quickly compared to purchasing a car from the assembly line, where equipment for driving on gas is already installed. Many well-known car manufacturers offer an alternative solution - they provide gas equipment installation services in their branded service centers, and do not remove the car from warranty.
If we move on to the realities of our market, few new cars with pre-installed gas equipment are sold. Among the gas modifications presented in Ukraine, the Tavria-pickup and Daewoo Sens should be noted, but these car brands are supplied “to order”. As for the AvtoVAZ concern, there are only “talks” going on so far, so it’s too early to talk about factory production. “Thoroughbred” foreign cars with pre-installed LPG are not transported to Ukraine. There are at least two reasons for this - many automakers do not produce such cars, and those that do, for example Volvo, do not supply them due to lack of demand.
There is absolutely no point in feeling sad about this; today, in our country there is a fairly wide selection of gas equipment that can easily be equipped with almost all cars, including many “trend” foreign cars.
Gas-powered cars: counting losses from converting a car to gas
Considering the ungodly rising prices for gasoline, even those who a few years ago did not think about such a thing in principle are starting to think about installing LPG. And if we take into account that pricing in our country depends solely on the greed of oil producing companies, and not on objective macroeconomic factors, the number of people wishing to switch to cheaper motor fuel will increase exponentially. But it's not that simple.
As soon as you start looking for the optimal way to implement your plans, a huge flow of information pours out at you. And not always true. Various forums also do not give a clear answer. Some consider gas to be almost a universal evil that kills the engine, and in the event of an accident, also the owner of the car. Others, on the contrary, consider it as an excellent tool that allows you to seriously reduce the cost of maintaining a car. We will not delve into this jungle; we will present only a few indisputable facts.
Pros. Gas is about half the price of gasoline. It is cleaner because it is more expensive to butcher it than to sell it as is. The car's power reserve increases on average by one and a half times, and the owner has an alternative - gas or gasoline.
Minuses. Gas consumption is higher than gasoline consumption. Moreover, when installing HBO, the consumption of the latter also increases slightly. The engine loses approximately 10-15% of its rated power, which is also associated with installation features.
Down with stereotypes
In this case, the gas really “kills” the engine. But there is no escape from this. However, we are not talking about the engine as a whole, but about the valves and the cylinder head. The block itself lives much longer on gas, since gas increases the service life of the oil. The valves burn and the head collapses. However, by the time the situation becomes critical (mileage 200,000-300,000), you will either sell the car or save an amount on fuel that will be more than enough not only for repairs, but also for replacement.
Now about the weight and reliability of the equipment. If we are not talking about a car that was originally prepared by the manufacturer for the installation of LPG, be prepared for the cylinders to eat up space in the trunk. The following can be said about mass. The times when a methane cylinder weighed up to a hundred kilograms have sunk into oblivion. Today on sale you can find containers with a specific gravity of 0.3 kilograms per liter, that is, an empty 25-liter cylinder weighs about 10 kg.
As for reliability, in this case everything depends on the manufacturer, regularity of maintenance, as well as the degree of hand bending and the qualifications of the installers. Otherwise, 4th generation LPG with electronic “brains” has long been available to customers. That is, you don’t even need a switch - the automation will start the car on gasoline, switch to gas itself, and if it runs out, back to gasoline. In general, there is simply no objective reason to consider HBO unsafe.
13,000 rubles in savings
Now let’s consider whether it’s worth converting the car to gas in principle. The main argument given by adherents of “gas driving” is the cheapness of the fuel itself. They are not lying here. In Moscow, for example, the weighted average price of a liter of 92 is 31.3 rubles, and a liter of propane is about 16 rubles, methane is 15 rubles. Therefore, if we remove the price tag included in the work, the cost of hundreds of kilometers traveled in a conventional LADA Granta with a passport consumption of 7 liters will decrease more than significantly - from 220 to 130 rubles. This means that by running about 20,000 kilometers a year, you will save about 13,000 rubles.
The benefit is not for everyone
However, these amounts by themselves mean nothing. The cost of a propane system (including installation) for Granta in Moscow is estimated at approximately 30,000 rubles. And this is not the ceiling, but also not the lower price segment - “business class” equipment from one of the industry leaders.
Methane, all other things being equal, is 7,000-10,000 more expensive. In addition, in the latter case, you will probably want to install a lightweight metal-plastic (or even composite) cylinder, the price tag of which is calculated based on the volume - from 290 rubles / liter (metal - 220 rubles / liter). Thus, the entire project will cost at least 45,000. And now calculate how many years it will take you to pay for the installation. Less than four. In any case, if your mileage is equal to the already indicated 20,000 kilometers.
In other words, it makes sense to think about HBO only if the mileage is one and a half to two times higher than indicated, or you have a much more power-hungry car, equipped with a V6 or V8 engine. But here, as they say, “God himself commanded.” With an average consumption of 15-17 liters, the payback time is reduced to 1.5-2 years. In addition, with such working volumes and, as a consequence, capacities, one of the main disadvantages of switching to gas - loss of power - turns out to be not so significant. Well, if you lose 25-30 “horses” it will have almost no effect on the dynamics, but the price tag for fuel will drop quite seriously.
What is typical is that the project budget does not grow that much - on average up to 50,000 rubles. There remains a problem with space in the cargo compartment, but it is completely solvable. Take donut-shaped toroidal cylinders that are installed in the spare wheel well, or mounted under the bottom of the car.
In addition, in nature there are vertical toroidal containers that can be attached to the side of the cargo compartment. They, of course, eat up space, but at the same time they do not deprive the driver of the opportunity to at least partially transform the rear sofa and do not exclude the presence of a spare wheel. The difficulty is that all this concerns systems for propane - associated petroleum gas. If you prefer a purer natural one, you don’t even have to mention such variability.
“Dry” methane is better than “wet” propane
Propane is stored in a liquefied state, methane is stored in a gaseous state, and under a pressure of 200 atmospheres (propane - 5 atmospheres). Therefore, the containers here are exclusively cylindrical, massive and, as a rule, more expensive. Unless, of course, you want to carry an extra hundredweight in the trunk. For commercial vehicles this is not a problem, but in the case of passenger cars this should be remembered.
However, methane has a number of advantages over propane. First, it is the fastest renewable fuel on the planet. That is, its price tag does not directly depend on the volume of oil production and refining. Secondly, it is dry, that is, there is basically no condensation in it, which car owners who have chosen oil gas need to get rid of regularly. By and large, methane can become an intermediate link between gasoline and clean energy. Thirdly, unlike propane, methane is lighter than air, which reduces the risk of explosion or fire by an order of magnitude, even during an accident. That is, when there is a leak, it does not concentrate in the lowest place, but forms a moving cloud that is dispersed by the wind. A 5 percent concentration is considered explosive, which is almost impossible to achieve in everyday conditions.
However, this does not mean that it does not have shortcomings. The most important thing is strict technical control: the system, operating under a pressure of 200 atmospheres, does not tolerate disregard. The second factor is the price and dimensions of the equipment. That is, it pays off much longer. The third is the number of refills. In Moscow and the Moscow region, for example, you can count them on one hand. In the southern regions, on the contrary, there are, as a rule, no special problems with finding the right CNG filling station. In any case, if the question arose about installing gas equipment, it would not hurt to study pricing and infrastructure in the region. Agree, it’s stupid to save on fuel while losing money on regular mileage.
There are no ready-made solutions
In this case, the best option is not to retrofit the car, but to buy a ready-made one. Which, by the way, solves a lot of problems, starting with issues of system layout and ending with its performance. Some time ago, we had a VW Passat EcoFuel in our editorial test (read more about this car here), which impressed literally everyone.
It looked and drove like a regular Passat, but its petrol tank was trimmed down to 15 liters. The vacated space was occupied by three 10-liter methane cylinders (21 kilograms), into which exactly 6 cubic meters of gas fit. The power reserve is the same - 500-600 kilometers, and the price tag for refueling is three times lower than that of its gasoline counterpart. But the Germans never began supplying such Passats to Russia. Moreover, not so long ago they refused to import Caddy EcoFuel. Other manufacturers didn’t even think about such adventures. In general, we can only use the opportunities that exist, that is, install HBO.
Is it worth it?
So, let's summarize. On cars with a small engine displacement and relatively low consumption, there is no particular point in converting. Even if the driver spends 30,000 rubles, the payback process will take 4-5 years. The exception is drivers who cover 40,000-50,000 kilometers per year. However, here the issue of the resource of the machine itself becomes very relevant - in just two or three years it will turn into a “bucket” under such a load. Plus an initial loss of power and a decrease in the life of the internal combustion engine. Both of these can be quite significant in such a situation.
With fairly powerful cars and SUVs, and even more so with light comtrans, everything is more clear. The benefit is obvious. The owner may have to set aside a larger budget for re-equipment - 40,000-50,000 rubles, but the payback period will be approximately halved. However, the average annual mileage here also needs to be taken into account: if it does not exceed the same 20,000 kilometers, the owner should think carefully and carefully calculate everything.
Cars that are officially considered commercial (the same “heels” or minibuses) are easier to immediately switch to methane without hesitation, since their mileage, as a rule, is long, and there are an order of magnitude fewer problems with the placement of cylinders. In addition, here you can use the most budget containers, install an additional raised floor or place them vertically. All this is possible and accessible. Of course, if you have the desire and the appropriate capabilities.
Why automakers aren't switching to gas
But it's not that simple. Behind the seemingly obvious advantages that the gas industry can offer consumers, lie much more serious problems that are holding back the widespread distribution of gas motor fuel.
Born in the USSR
Now it’s hard to believe that the history of the development of gas engine fuel in our country began back in the 1930s. According to Alexander Frolov, an analyst at the Institute of National Energy, then, due to a shortage of oil and a rapidly developing industry, the government decided to switch part of the transport to gas. The corresponding decree was issued in 1936. The production of equipment was established, gas stations opened and the development of gas engines began. But the full-scale implementation of the program was prevented by the Great Patriotic War.
In the 1960s, the program to convert transport to gas and build gas filling stations was recklessly abandoned because large oil fields were discovered in Western Siberia. But there was no talk of completely curtailing the project - the production of gas cylinder equipment continued.
By the end of the 1970s, due to inaccurate exploitation of the fields, there was a drop in the flow rates of oil wells, which predetermined the state’s return to the development of the gas engine sector. Since 1981 18 ministries and departments of the Soviet Union participated in the implementation of the corresponding program.
By 1985 Three resolutions of the Council of Ministers were issued on the mass transfer of large fuel consumers to gas and the creation of a network of gas filling stations. The introduced system has resulted in tens of millions of tons of oil savings. Over five years, about 500 automobile gas filling compressor stations (CNG filling stations) were built and about half a million vehicles were converted to compressed natural gas (CNG). The development of this direction was stopped by the collapse of the USSR.
You will save more than once if you install gas
To begin with, let’s make a reservation that the gas motor fuel market is currently represented by two main products: liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, propane-butane) and compressed natural gas (CNG, methane).
So, let's try to calculate the costs. Executive Director of the National Gas Engine Association Viktor Stativko believes that the introduction of gas engine fuel is economically beneficial. “In accordance with government decree, the cost of one cubic meter of gas cannot exceed the cost of one liter of A-76 gasoline. There is no such gasoline anymore, so the reference point is A-80, which costs an average of 20 rubles per liter,” explains V. Stativko. — That’s why there is 1 cubic meter in the country. m (equivalent to 1 liter of gasoline) of natural gas at a CNG filling station does not exceed 10 rubles, and in some regions it is even lower. The experience of large automobile enterprises in Ryazan and a number of other cities shows that equipment converted to natural gas, in addition to the difference in price, provides additional fuel savings of 20-25%. As a result, fuel cost savings when operating vehicles on natural gas reach 70-75%.”
However, the main deterrent for motorists is still the high cost of installing gas equipment (LPG). When installing LPG for cars running on propane-butane, the car becomes dual-fuel, i.e. Can run on gas and gasoline. For a front-wheel drive VAZ car (including Kalina), the price ranges from 11.5-22.5 thousand rubles. Installing fifth-generation gas equipment will cost more – up to 60 thousand rubles. At the same time, according to experts, engine power increases, and consumption does not exceed gasoline displacement.
LPG for propane-butane is lighter and cheaper than for CNG, and therefore is more actively used in passenger vehicles. There are more than 3 thousand LPG filling stations in Russia. But in our country there are only, according to various estimates, from 90 to 100 thousand cars running on methane, with the number of filling stations being about 250. Their main area of application is buses and trucks, which is due to the high price and weight of gas equipment.
According to the Ministry of Energy, converting a private consumer's car to CNG will pay for itself in 49 thousand km, and to LPG - in 32 thousand km. That is, switching to a gas car is beneficial, first of all, to those who drive a lot. And in this situation, switching budget vehicles to gas seems very reasonable.
By the way, the situation here is paradoxical to the point of absurdity. Another important advantage of natural gas, when used in budgetary organizations, instantly turns into a disadvantage. Gas is technically impossible to steal, and this becomes the main reason why the heads of state unitary enterprises and their employees oppose the introduction of gas motor fuel.
Do you have gas in your car?
The common opinion of the majority of motorists who are considering whether or not to switch to gas is that installing LPG is too expensive and they do not want to carry an explosive substance on their back. These fears are partly justified. One of the main disadvantages of converting a car to gas is the difficulty of installing gas cylinders. In addition, when installing gas equipment on a new car, you may lose the manufacturer’s warranty, because installing gas equipment on a warranty vehicle is nothing more than changing the design of the vehicle. There is also a potential risk of fire or explosion. However, it has been proven that with proper installation and timely maintenance, the risk is practically reduced to zero.
Another argument of opponents of gas engine fuel is the discomfort that you will experience in a car with a gas installation. In theory, you cannot smoke in such a car (although not everyone adheres to this), the car loses its dynamic characteristics. In addition, the gas cylinder takes up a lot of space in the trunk.
Pakistan and Iran are especially worth highlighting in the development of natural gas motor fuel. Possessing in 1999 with very modest fleets of gas engines (4 thousand and 800 units, respectively), by last year these countries took first place in the world in the number of vehicles running on compressed gas: 2.5 million in Pakistan and 2 million in Iran.
In modern Russia, in turn, there are more than 41 million vehicles, of which only about 100 thousand motorists use natural gas, about 1.4 million use LPG. In general, 1.5 million gas-cylinder vehicles (GV) drive on Russian roads. .
UNECE back in 2001 adopted a resolution providing for translation by 2020. 23% of the car fleet in Europe uses alternative types of motor fuel, including 10% (23.5 million) using natural gas. According to moderate forecasts, the total number of cars in the world powered by CNG will increase by 2030. will reach about 100 million.
In Russia, the situation with legislation in the field of gas engine fuel is sadder. For more than ten years, the country, which is a storehouse of natural gas, has been unable to pass a law on alternative types of motor fuel. The stumbling block, according to market participants, is currently the issue of allocating money from the federal budget, and the main opponent of the law is the Ministry of Finance.
However, now there is hope that things will finally move forward - on October 11, a bill on alternative types of motor fuel was introduced to the State Duma. According to Alexandra Frolov, an analyst at the Institute of National Energy, it is proposed to develop the gas engine sector at the expense of local authorities. However, according to the expert, this will not work: the initiative regions (Ryazan, Tula region, North Caucasus, Stavropol Territory, Sverdlovsk region) will continue to develop, and in the rest the situation will remain at the same level. “With regard to municipal transport and large private fleets, benefits must be combined with coercion,” continues A. Frolov. — For example, in the USA, when updating a fleet of 10 vehicles or more, owners are required to purchase at least 10% of the equipment using alternative fuels. It is also necessary to revise a number of regulatory documents relating to the construction of gas filling stations, otherwise they will continue to be built virtually outside the city limits. This is not bad for intercity transport, but for city buses and private consumers it is absurd: the idle runs are too long.”
“The main problem, in my opinion, is the lack of understanding at the state level of why Russia needs gas engine fuel,” comments A. Frolov. “And without government support nothing will work.” And we are not alone in this. Throughout the world, the development of the gas engine industry is taking place at the intersection of cooperation between the state and large oil and gas companies. Relevant laws are adopted, tax benefits are introduced, and subsidies are allocated. No local initiative works as effectively as a full-scale state program.”
Executive Director of the National Gas Engine Association Viktor Stativko also says that the main constraint on the development of the gas engine fuel market is the complete lack of government attention and support: “For 20 years, it has not been possible to make even the slightest hole in this “state defense.”
“Today there is no such thing as gas motor fuel in any legislative act. The absence of this concept in legislative documents leads to the fact that each department independently establishes its own attitude towards such transport. The traffic police, for example, locally creates obstacles during registration and technical inspection. In turn, firefighters have established such standards for gaps from CNG filling stations to residential and industrial buildings and infrastructure facilities of other types of fuel that in Russia it is impossible to combine gasoline, LPG and CNG at any gas station, although abroad they, on the contrary, are combined into filling complexes,” - the expert argues.
The question inevitably arises: perhaps such ardent suppression of the gas motor fuel market should be looked for in the business of oil companies? After all, it is oil refining that brings about half of the profits to oil workers.
Here the opinions of gas market participants are divided. Some give transparent hints to the oil lobby on the issue of curbing natural gas motor fuel, and some consider this formulation of the issue to be a persistent myth. “The oil industry itself is comfortable with the development of the gas engine market: more oil will remain for export,” some experts are sure. “In addition, the problem of utilization of associated gases is very relevant for them (propane-butane is one of the main products of APG processing and a by-product of cracking at refineries - RBC note).”
Gazprom Gazenergoseti (a specialized subsidiary of Gazprom, which is currently a lobbyist for the introduction of gas motor fuel) told RBC that the gas motor fuel market, first of all, is very much constrained by outdated technical standards for the construction and operation of gas filling stations compared to Western ones technologies, as well as the lack of regulatory and technical documentation for CNG and LNG.
“Thus, increased fire safety distances from gas filling stations are one of the main reasons hindering the development of gas filling infrastructure in large cities. Fire distances in developed countries of Western Europe are several times smaller than ours. For example, in Germany, you can refuel a car with gas (LPG) in the yard of your house if you install the appropriate equipment,” said Gazprom Gazenergoseti.
In addition, the turnover of a gasoline station is 10-15 times higher than the turnover of a gas station, therefore, the profitability of a gas station is significantly lower. In this case, the investor must buy and maintain a plot of land for a gas station, which is three times larger than for a gas station. And the owner of a gas station does not have the right to build a store and other services on it.
For methane gas stations, the situation with regulatory regulation of the construction and operation of facilities is even worse. Thus, a vicious circle arises: there is no gas station infrastructure - fleet owners do not consider it advisable to switch to gas, and since there is no consumer, it is problematic to build gas stations, summarized the Gazprom subsidiary.
V.Stativko, discussing the need for widespread distribution of gas motor fuel, says that the activity of foreign countries in converting their transport to gas is connected, first of all, with the end of oil. Secondly, science has practically exhausted its ability to improve the internal combustion engine to reduce harmful impurities in the exhaust gases of petroleum fuels, while natural gas, even in Zhiguli cars, makes it possible to achieve Euro-3 standards and higher.
“Today everyone in the world understands that an alternative to natural gas as a motor fuel has not yet been found. There is still a lot of it, it is cheaper than petroleum fuels, it does not require special processing, like oil, it has already been delivered to the consumer, which eliminates the huge number of railway tanks that smoke fuel tankers. There is no need to accumulate it for spring and autumn field work; oil depots are no longer needed. And most importantly, it is almost impossible to steal. There are a great many advantages to using gas as a fuel, but finding justified reasons why it is so stubbornly ignored at all levels of government in Russia is the biggest mystery. We need Perelman,” the expert sums up.
5 reasons not to switch your car to gas
Just a couple of years ago, a car with installed gas equipment helped its owner significantly save on fuel. Methane or propane was almost three times cheaper than gasoline, while fuel consumption when using it was far from twice as high. But by 2018, not only the prices for fuel and equipment had changed, but also the legislative framework, which now negates all the benefits of converting a car to gas fuel.
Reason No. 1. Price issue
Following gasoline and diesel fuel, the price of natural gas is also rising. For example, in the Moscow region the price of a cubic meter of propane has almost everywhere exceeded 20 rubles. Often at gas stations there are price tags of 21–22 rubles, and this is almost half the price of ordinary gasoline. Taking into account the increased fuel consumption on gas by approximately 1.5 times and the loss of engine power, which the driver will have to compensate for by pressing the accelerator more actively, the savings are debatable. In addition, you need to remember that gas equipment of at least the 4th generation, suitable for most foreign cars, comes close to 30 thousand rubles without taking into account installation work. You will have to travel about 15 thousand kilometers to fully pay for such a modification of the car.
Reason No. 2. A matter of technology
Modern gas equipment no longer kills the engine - you can forget about it. However, running on gas also has its consequences for the engine - first of all, the exhaust valves and cylinder head suffer. Gas has a higher combustion temperature than the same gasoline. This means that the thermal load on the engine will be higher, however, critical changes in the engine can occur only after 150–200 thousand kilometers on the 4th generation LPG and newer models. In addition, do not forget that dealers rarely leave a warranty on cars converted to gas. The only exceptions are dual-fuel cars that have already left the factory with modifications - for example, the newest Lada Vesta CNG.
Reason No. 3. Ballast in the trunk
Unless you have a huge SUV with a cylinder in the spare wheel well under the bottom, then most likely the natural gas tank is located in your trunk. And this is a very voluminous design, which will not only reduce the useful space for luggage, but will also probably say goodbye to your favorite subwoofer or spare wheel. This means that you will have to forget about transporting large cargo like bicycles or baby strollers in the car about frequent trips to the country with seedlings or on a hike with a bunch of equipment. In addition, this is additional weight that your car will have to carry every day - and this will also not have a positive effect on the dynamics.
Reason No. 4. Autonomy
Of course, this is not an electric car, for which there are few gas stations in nature. And even if the tank is empty, you can always go to a regular gas station and fill up the car with gasoline - the travel time will not change. However, in most Russian cities, and even more so on suburban highways, there is only one gas station for every 10 ordinary gas stations. This means that on long trips, traveling around the country or simply when visiting other cities, you will often have to refuel with gasoline, and this will significantly reduce the savings from installing LPG. Why invest so much money in a car if it will still consume classic fuel part of the time?
Reason number 5. Oh, these laws...
Unfortunately, even such a banal modification of the car as switching to gas is considered a change in the design of the car. Therefore, all improvements will have to be documented, and to do this, collect a lot of paperwork and go through all the circles of the Russian bureaucracy. Namely, you will have to find an authorized service that has the right to install HBO. Next, contact technical supervision for a decision based on the results of safety tests of your machine with the equipment already installed. Then you need to undergo a technical inspection and finally submit an application to the traffic police, of course, with payment of all fees, to make changes to the title and registration certificate. Whether it's worth it is up to you to decide.
Is it worth switching the car to gas, what are the consequences?
Do I need to switch my car to gas?
The constant increase in fuel prices makes car owners think about ways to save money, including switching their cars to gas. Gas is slightly cheaper, which makes it possible to reduce the cost of refueling your car. But such a solution has both advantages and disadvantages, which will be discussed below.
Advantages
When choosing a car, many car owners also take into account such a criterion as fuel costs. Considering that gas costs about 2 times less than gasoline, this type of fuel at first glance seems to be the optimal fuel. That’s right, the cost per kilometer of travel using gas will be significantly lower. But you shouldn’t draw direct parallels when comparing gas and gasoline prices. A car running on gas will consume approximately 20–30% more fuel than a similar car running on gasoline. For this reason, the savings will no longer be so great, and all the advantages of using gas end there.
Flaws
One of the main disadvantages of installing gas equipment on a car is the cost of the procedure. Modern certified equipment from trusted Italian manufacturers, which have earned a reputation for reliable systems, have a fairly high cost, and converting a car to gas can require about 100 - 150 thousand rubles. It must be admitted that the price of the issue is very high. It’s definitely not worth saving on installing cheap equipment, since not only the operational characteristics of the machine depend on it, but also the safety of its operation, which cannot be assessed in money.
But installing gas equipment is not enough - you also need to obtain permission to operate it. Installing cheap equipment in a “basement workshop” can create difficulties in obtaining such a permit, and it is simply impossible to operate the car without it. This means that gas equipment must be installed only in a specialized workshop that has the appropriate permit to carry out such work. In the future, the cylinder will need to be serviced and checked on a regular basis.
Difficulty in operating the car is another possible problem. There are many petrol and diesel filling stations today, but to refuel with gas you need to visit a specialized gas station, of which there are not many today. It is quite possible that they may not be nearby, and a trip to the other side of the city entails additional costs. When traveling, the driver may also not know exactly the location of the required gas station, and this also means some inconvenience in operating the car.
Reliability issues. As the experience of many specialists involved in engine maintenance and repair shows, operating a car on gas almost always leads to the need for premature, complex and expensive repairs of the power unit. It has been confirmed in practice that cars running on gas have problems with the operation of the engine due to burnout of rare earth deposits in the cylinders. Restoring an engine with such damage, even if possible, will require replacing the cylinder block, which entails very serious financial costs. In addition, operating a car on gas may lead to problems with the fuel system and injector. Even one refueling with low-quality fuel will cause a constant manifestation of the problem, to eliminate which you will have to repair the injectors and carry out other work that will cost the car owner a tidy sum. Most often, engines and fuel systems with injectors are simply not designed for the use of high-octane gas, which entails the need to reconfigure the equipment, and in the future - expensive repairs with all that it entails.
Loss of warranty is another disadvantage of converting a car to gas. If you intend to install gas equipment on a new car, it is important to understand that the manufacturer’s warranty obligations for such a car will automatically terminate. If any malfunctions are identified in the future, they will have to be corrected at your own expense.
Selling a car with gas equipment will be more difficult in the future - this is also important to understand. If you manage to find a buyer, you will probably have to reduce the price. Almost any buyer can determine that gas equipment was installed on a specific machine without any difficulties. This will mean that the car may have problems with the engine and other components. As a result, even if it is possible to sell such a car, it will be at a very low price and there is no talk of any benefit.
Even with the installation of the highest quality gas equipment, some problems may arise with the operation of the car in urban conditions. For example, the car may have difficulty starting, which will require calling a tow truck or a trip to the service center for appropriate repairs. If the car is primarily used in urban environments, switching it to gas will not be the right decision.
All of the above disadvantages may lose relevance when the gas installation pays off. But it is definitely impossible to answer the question about the payback of such a solution. For example, with an annual mileage of 15 thousand kilometers, it will simply be impossible to pay for expensive gas equipment. With a mileage of 50 thousand kilometers, such equipment can pay for itself after 2 years of vehicle operation. Therefore, it is necessary to make a decision on installing gas equipment only after determining the actual mileage of the car in recent years.
As has already become clear, installing modern gas equipment on a car and switching to another type of fuel have their advantages and disadvantages. It is easy to conclude that this solution has more disadvantages than advantages. But with active use of the car and a large annual mileage, it makes sense to install gas equipment. Moreover, when making such a decision, the car owner must clearly understand that in the future there will definitely be difficulties with the operation of the car and problems with its sale on the secondary market.
