Converting a petrol car to LPG, is it worth it?
Save money on fuel with LPG
It will not have escaped your notice: fuel prices have exploded recently. Electric driving is therefore extra interesting, but due to the high purchase price, a fully electric car is not for everyone. A good alternative can be a car on LPG. For a liter of liquid petroleum gas you quickly pay a euro less than for a liter of petrol. If you spend a lot of time on the road, you can save a lot of money if you switch to LPG.
LPG popular
More and more motorists have their cars converted so that they can run on LPG. Nowadays you even end up on a waiting list at many conversion companies. When it’s finally your turn, these companies provide your car with a gas tank (usually in the place of the spare wheel), an LPG filling point next to the petrol connection, an adapted engine management system and various components around the engine. Converting a car costs an average of about 2,000 euros.
Other costs for converting petrol to LPG
A car with an LPG tank involves more costs than just the conversion costs. For example, the costs of car insurance premiums and road tax go up considerably. Geld.nl investigated whether it is worthwhile to have your petrol car converted despite these higher costs.
Higher premium car insurance with LPG
Research by Geld.nl shows that motorists who drive on LPG pay an average of 180 to 240 euros extra per year for car insurance. So about two bucks extra per month. Because an LPG tank has a value – as mentioned, about 2,000 euros – your car will also be worth more. At least, that’s what the insurance company thinks, to whom you must inform that you have had an LPG tank installed. They add the amount to the value of your car. In addition, you also pay a higher premium because your car is heavier, because of the extra weight of the LPG tank. The monthly premium for a car with or without an LPG tank differs enormously per insurer. There is absolutely no harm in comparing car insurance .
Road tax LPG
After installing an LPG installation, you also pay more motor vehicle tax, because the car is heavier and therefore falls in a higher rate class . In addition, for LPG a fuel surcharge. With an LPG tank in your car you spend about 250 euros more annually in road tax, but in some cases you even pay 600 euros extra per year.
Turning point petrol to LPG
If we put all the figures together, the question is whether converting a car to LPG is still so attractive. Geld.nl’s figures do not lie: in the first year you will lose 2,000 euros for the conversion, 210 euros extra in car premium and 250 euros extra goes to the tax authorities. With the current fuel prices, you have to refuel at least 2,312 liters of LPG, if you want to remove these costs. A car that averages 1 in 14 drives takes more than 32,000 kilometers. So you have to drive this already in the first year with a just converted car, because the following year you have to pay the high tax premium and higher road tax again. Still, there are scenarios in which it certainly pays to convert your car, especially if you are a real mile-eater.