Motorists who travel relatively many kilometers will wonder if they will opt for LPG or diesel when buying another car. Things like the (mileage) price and performance play an important role in this. But the pollution of our environment is also an important consideration when choosing between different fuels.
Cost
In most cases, the tipping point of LPG compared to petrol is considerably lower than diesel compared to petrol. In addition, lpg savings are higher in most cases. The purchase price of a car with an LPG installation is also lower than the price of the comparable diesel version. Similarly, we mean here: an LPG and a diesel engine that deliver similar performance.
‘More economical’ is not always ‘cheaper’
The fact is that a diesel engine consumes less fuel than an engine running on LPG. This is because a liter of diesel oil of all types of fuel contains the most energy. However, the higher consumption of LPG is more than made up for by the significantly lower fuel price of LPG!
Performance and environment
The days when diesels were really slow are behind us. Modern diesel engines provide more power than we used to, they are also quieter and pollute less than in the past. However, even the most modern diesels still provide less power per litre of cylinder capacity than engines on LPG. This means in practice that, for the same performance as an LPG engine, you must have a diesel engine that has a much larger cylinder capacity. A diesel engine with the same engine capacity as an LPG engine delivers lower performance. As for exhaust gases: LPG is still the least polluting fuel!
Other differences
No separate tank needs to be built into a diesel car. However, thanks to the modern installation techniques of LPG installations, such as the toroidal tank in the recess for the spare wheel and substructure, the downside is that driving on LPG costs a lot of luggage space in the past! For each model passenger car that comes on the market, there is a choice of several petrol engines. The supply for diesel engines is a lot smaller. Some cars don’t even come with a diesel engine at all. Special versions, such as coupes, convertibles, or models with an automatic gearbox, are often not available with diesel engines. Those who opt for LPG therefore have a greater choice of the range of models.