Oz Gasser

[RobWindt]

G'day from SE Australia, I opened an LPG conversion shop here earlier this year and am in a small town of several thousand folks.

The Feds here offer a $2000 rebate to anyone converting a private vehicle to LPG, basic conversions are around $2500 and sequential vapour injection around $4500 so interest is strong and business is good. LPG is available in most towns here and is half the price of petrol/ gasoline.
We have EPA reg's to consider as anything after '03 needs an approved kit much like your CARB standards, usually sequential vapour injection

This town is currently being piped for reticulated natural gas and most homes and businesses should be connected over the next two years, I like to keep on top of things and will be getting qualified for CNG conversions before then
I've found that a business in my state is trialling the PHIL and seeking approval to sell them here, is there anything I should know about them, drawbacks, problems alternatives etc?

Given the price and incentives for LPG, is CNG even worth considering?

Cheers
Rob

[cnghal]

Re: Oz Gasser

G'day Rob,
Funny, I thought natural gas was ace in Oz. The first bloke who trained me on CNG installations came up from Parnell in Victoria I believe. Must be a regional market. Shouldn't be to hard to convert, most systems are the same on the low pressure side just past the vaporizer/regulator. Biggest problem is finding a place for the tanks.
Give'er a fair go.

[RobWindt]

Re: Oz Gasser

Yep, the vapour systems are all switchable between LPG/CNG but there is no distribution network for CNG, "my phil" or similar would be the only option and from what I've glanced at here this would not be a cheap option.

I visited New Zealand around 20 years ago and noticed that CNG was readily available there but am told that the CNG network has largely disappeared since then. At that time LPG was half the price of petrol and CNG was half the price of LPG.

Rob

[jblue]

Re: Oz Gasser

I visited New Zealand around 20 years ago .. but am told that the CNG network has largely disappeared since then.

I saw a car being refueled with either CNG or LPG at Kawakawa this past December, and I tried to talk to the driver, but I suppose he was having a bad day as he was not too friendly.