Hyundai may build Hybrid LPG Elantra in Australia
Liquified petroleum gas (commonly referred to as propane) has never really caught as a motor fuel in the U.S. although it is used by some fleets. However, drivers in Australia may have a new LPG-fueled vehicle to choose from. In fact they may have an LPG mild hybrid available soon at Hyundai dealers. Hyundai Australia is considering local production of the LPG hybrid Elantra that goes on sale in Korea in 2009. Australia has sufficient domestic supplies of LPG that they don't have to import any. With 3,200 LPG filling stations, Australia significantly outnumbers the 2,500 stations in the US.
Even though consumption on LPG is slightly higher than gasoline, the total operating costs of an LPG hybrid Elentra are significantly less than a Prius. In Australia, LPG is $3.26/U.S. gallon less than gasoline. That means an average driver could operate the LPG hybrid Elantra on less than $10 a week. Hyundai has field tested about 100 LPG hybrid Elantras and is reportedly close to finishing validation of the system. The mild hybrid Elantra uses a 15kW motor, LG Chem lithium ion battery and 1.6L engine. The LPG hybrid is thought to get about 47mpg (U.S.) compared to 53mpg for the Prius. Gasoline currently runs $5.80 a gallon in Australia and an LPG mild hybrid could be much less expensive to operate. Hyundai is also developing both plug-in and non-plug variants of a strong hybrids and could begin limited production of a fuel cell vehicle by 2012.
[Source: Drive.com.au]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevefazek 6:52PM (6/10/2008)
Propane gets 25% less MPG than gas but wow thats still good. Propane is running at 2 bucks a gallon here.
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Cho 8:47PM (6/10/2008)
The excise on LPG is increasing each year in Australia so LPG will only get more expensive over the next couple of years. This still seems to be a decent option for reducing fuel costs though.
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Brian Todd 5:48AM (7/05/2008)
LPG Autogas in Australia is not pure propane but a mixture of 60 to 70 percent propane and 30 to 40 percent butane, varying by season. Only LPG sold in bottles for cooking is pure propane.
LPG is not presently subject to excise tax in Australia. In 2004, the government announced Autogas would remain excise-free until 2011. After 2011, excise will be gradually applied in annual increments of 2.5 cents per litre, until it reaches a ceiling of 12.5 cents per litre in 2015. By comparison, the current excise on petrol in 38.1 cents per litre. LPG will always be less expensive than petrol in Australia. Yes, there will eventually be excise tax on LPG, but I'm making hay while the sun shines.
The Australian government presently offers a $2000 subsidy to retrofit privately owned petrol vehicles, against a usual LPG fuel system installation cost of about $3000. I took up the offer for my 1986 Toyota HiAce van. I retained the capacity to use petrol, but had the petrol tank cut in half to make room for the LPG cylinder under the cargo floor.
My old carburetted 2.0L 4cyl HiAce goes about 8.7km/litre (20.4mpg) on petrol, 7.2km/L (16.9mpg) on LPG, a 17% reduction in economy per litre. However, LPG costs only $0.579/L (US$2.30/US gallon) while ULP is around $1.709/L (US$6.80/US gallon), 77% less than ULP. The net effect between the reduced per-litre economy and lower per-litre cost is that it costs 55% less to run the van. It's so much nicer to fill the LPG tank and pay $30 than to pay $72 to fill the petrol tank- for the same amount of kilometres.
Interestingly, while it takes about 15-20% more litres of LPG to drive the same distance as on petrol, since LPG is less dense than petrol yet burns hotter, it actually takes fewer kilograms of LPG per km. This accounts for a 15% reduction of CO2 emissions on LPG. Overall emissions can be as much as 80% lower, for vehicles like mine without catalytic converters.
Keep in mind that while Australia has vast reserves of propane and butane in wells- we really are the Saudi Arabia of LPG- those two hydrocarbons are actually byproducts of petrol refining, which many refineries burn off as they can't sell it. Every time you see a big flare-off at an oil refinery, that's effectively LPG someone could be burning in a car.
Sam Abuelsamid wrote:
"With 3,200 LPG filling stations, Australia significantly outnumbers the 2,500 stations in the US."
Yes, but Australia has only 6500 total service stations. 50% of all Australian service stations now sell LPG. The USA has about 200,000, meaning only about 10% can fuel LPG vehicles. It's now possible to circumnavigate Australia on LPG only.
Why LPG never caught on as a motor fuel in the USA is open to conjecture. LPG caught on in Australia because there was significant demand for cheaper fuels for the taxi industry. When you're talking about a nation of only 20 million people, comprise a significant number of vehicles and thus make a viable sales base for the much smaller refining industry here. Size matters. ;)
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Brian Todd 7:31AM (7/05/2008)
As an afterthought, since fuel cells which run on hydrogen can also run on LPG, it's a bit curious why Honda chose to introduce the FCX in the USA. Yes, a fuel cell running on LPG will emit CO2 while one running on H2 will only emit water, but I'd have thought Honda would get some good real-world experience in a place where fuel-cell cars can be driven across a continent instead of just around LA.
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Brian Todd 8:37AM (7/05/2008)
Sam, you have filed this post under 'natural gas' Just so you know, natural gas and LPG are not the same thing, though both are obtained from drilling wells. Natural gas is methane. LPG is either plain propane or a mixture of propane and butane.
The main difference is that to be suitable as a motor fuel, both natural gas and LPG must be compressed to cause them to liquefy. Liquefication allows a useful amount of the normally gaseous fuels to be carried in a vehicle mounted tank to permit reasonable range between fills.
However, natural gas requires extremely high pressures to liquefy, on the order of 3000psi, to become CNG motor fuel. LPG liquefies at about 120psi.
While there are recently developed lightweight composite material tanks suiting the 3000psi needed for CNG, to date, heavy welding gas type cylinders have to date been required. LPG tanks can be just 3mm thick steel and still not breach even when a collision is so severe as to eject the tank from the vehicle.
Unfortunately, LPG & CNG fuel systems are not cross- compatible.
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