His excellence autogas

© ToyotaLPG as petrol's substitute refuses to go without a bang and with the new Centre of Excellence it's bound to stay around for longer

You can't stop autogas

Apparently, the fact that three major automakers ceased production in Australia isn't enough to discourage drivers accustomed to autogas from using the fuel – a recent study showed there's market demand for 160 thousand LPG-powered cars for the years 2018-25. To meet this forecasted figure, a consortium of companies has launched an LPG Autogas Centre of Excellence in Melbourne, Victoria.

Fleets get what they deserve

The initiative is a cooperation between Unigas, Prixcar and Sprint Gas. It's meant to offer fleet managers access to affordable, high-quality autogas conversions of new cars directly through port of entry or dealerships. The first order (100 brand new Toyota Camry Hybrids) has been placed by taxi operator 13CABS. The cars will remain hybrids, but will use LPG instead of petrol for their combustion engines.

There is still a strong role for autogas in Australia. With local supply and national infrastructure including 2,700 autogas-enabled service stations, this cleaner fuel can provide strong fuel security and availability now and well into the future.

This new facility provides a strict quality control at a similar standard to an OEM facility – with highly experienced autogas system designers, manufacturers and skilled vehicle fitters that streamline installation processes to ensure competitive conversion costs.

John Coggins, Senior Business Manager, Unigas

Autogas pays

As far as 13CABS is concerned, the company looks forward to further reducing its fuel bills as well as maintenance costs and cutting corporate emissions. The systems to be used are Sprint Gas' sequential vapour LPG injection ones that help keep the cost of the entire conversion operation down. According to 13CABS' estimates and calculations, LPG-electric Camrys will provide fuel cost reductions of 45% and a payback time of just six months, given each vehicle covers 150 thousand km annually.

13CABS is committed to reducing emissions and improving air quality in the cities where we operate by encouraging cleaner alternative fuels and new technologies across our fleet.

While the Toyota Camry Hybrid with its petrol-electric drive is already one of the most economical cars in the market, with a tri-fuel system using LPG, the vehicle delivers even more environmental and cost benefits.

Greg Hardeman, Fleet Operations Manager, 13CABS