lpg and diesels

[choothemoo]

i don't like working in London and begrudge paying to do so by way of congestion charge, so am looking at various options was following a petrol terrano on eBay with gas but it disappeared and am now looking at a diesel trooper with LPG conversion but need to know if eligible for discount looked at power shift website but no joy

[Rossko]

London congestion charge exemption is only given to LPG vehicles listed on the "powershift" scheme. It's a sort of type-approval; the LPG system makers have to submit a vehicle for extensive emissions testing. If all is well, that particular brand/type of LPG system fitted to that particular year/model of car gets listed. Its an expensive process so doesn't get done much. It's quite a long list but even so, rarely has just the system/car combo anyone wants! Some of the conversions listed won't even be available anymore because the makers went bust. No-one said the scheme was there to help or encourage you

So far as I know there are NO "LPG" converted diesels on the list at all. Very few LPG fitters will touch LPG add-ons for a diesel, because of the problems and past experience.

A "converted" diesel still burns about 90% diesel, emits particulates, etc etc. A small percentage of added LPG gives a power boost. There's no inherent economy in that. The idea is you can drive round at the same speed with a lighter right foot, that's where the economy would come from.

Yeh right ... in practice everyone drives round foot flat to the floor as usual, delighting in the extra power available and thinking how wonderful it is ... until the day the overstressed engine goes bang.

The current add-on systems are crude and the power delivery is not well controlled. Newer computerised systems should overcome this by defeating heavy boots ... I've seen prototypes but this'll probably only be economic for fleet operators.

There is another way. Extensive machining of the head to accomodate spark plugs, and add an ignition system. The high compression of the original diesel engine should really suit LPG and make it more efficient than running a petrol engine on LPG. This is how gas-fired forklift engines are made, but I've not heard of a road going diesel converted this way.

If you must avoid congestion charge, you must pick a combination from that list. Jeep V8 maybe? Smart car ??

cheers, Ross K

[blueboy-666]

There is a way around the millions of tons of paperwork to get any lpg car certified as congestion charge exempt - im not sure how as my friend sorted mine out along with his but i can ask him how it was done if you like??
I have a RRC 1990 and he has a disco 1996 and they are both congestion charge exempt!

[Rossko]

Interesting! London are very specific that it "needs to be on the list or you ain't getting in"

see http://www.cclondon.com/downloads/Drivers.pdf

The list is the 'Powershift Register' - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/uploads/documents/fleet/-%20PowerShift%20Register%20300707v21.pdf on which no Land Rover has ever appeared.

You need to indivdually register and renew at £10 a year, as well as proving you have a listed setup.

Maybe you get some other exemption that you don't want to discuss too much here While poking around I found that vehicles with over 9 seats are eligible for a discount, which I hadn't heard of before. 110 station wagons then !

cheers, Ross K

[Biodiesel-Bev]

I also heard something about if you register your vehicle as a taxi you're exempt from the congestion charge. Apparently it costs about £80 per year.

Someone else on here may be able to correct me if I'm wrong.