06Fargo wrote:
Anyway auto propane is selling for US $1.75/USgallon - $2.00/USgallon here
It might be "cheaper" in your neck of the woods BUT you ARE completely FORGETTING the mere tiny fact that propane contains LESS BTUs per gallon than gasoline.
You will get easily 20% LESS mileage with propane than what you would get with gasoline.
Put it another way..
You will use 1.2 gallons of propane compared to 1 gallon of gasoline to do the same job.
That means your actual cost to operate said vehicle will be closer to $2.10-$2.40 range. This pretty much wipes out any "advantage" in price when you take that into account..
Additionally a propane powered vehicle will not have some advantages like high low end torque you get from a diesel engine. What this means is given equivalent work between a propane engine and a diesel and the diesel will win hands down over all in lower fuel consumption which means fuel savings is zero for propane.
If it makes you feel good about using propane for on the road use, that's fine with me.. But you are not going to save tons of money in the process.
Do keep in mind, in the US we DO pay something called ROAD TAXES which are a combination of FEDERAL AND STATE taxes for on road fuels.. That IS figured into the price on the pump so when folks post the prices they will vary greatly from state to state.
Propane in most states is sold pretty much strictly for HOME HEATING usage.. If you buy a propane powered vehicle for on road usage here, you WILL be evading taxes if you do not report it AND PAY THE TAXES DUE.
It is taken seriously on diesel where our heating oil, kerosene AND OFF ROAD DIESEL FUELS ARE DYED.. Get caught with dyed fuel in your truck tank and you get to play with the Feds.. Not cheap or fun to say the least.. Diesel owners can at any time be pulled over and their tanks CAN be "dipped"..
In my case PA combination of Fed and state road taxes are about $.80 per gallon which is the second highest in the US for gas taxes..
