Autogas in Korea - free at last!

© auto-gas.netWith many new cars coming soon, the number of available refueling stations may need to be expanded

Until now, use of autogas was only allowed in taxis, rental cars, small cars and vans or buses with seating capacity of over seven. As we previously reported, the Korean autogas industry argued that such limitations don't ever serve any practical purpose anymore and that stunting free growth of the automotive LPG sector affects air quality in the cities, harming people's health. And so the restrictions have been waived and now cars with seating capacity of five or below will be released for sale to the general public.

The decision to lift the ban was made in July by a task force consisting of members of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Trade, Industry and Energy Committee and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. It was agreed that the ban has become obsolete and the National Assembly passed a bill allowing sales of LPG-powered vehicles to the general public. The new regulation is hoped to help tackle the problem of increasing particulate matter emissions, coming mainly from diesel-fueled vehicles. Cars running on autogas spew out next to no particulate matter at all. Let's wait until at least the end of the year to see how the new law works in practice.