THINK TANK

摘要

In the discussion of alternative motor transport fuel, centre stage is firmly occupied by EVs and hybrids. But what of LPG? Richard Yarrow asks whether OEMs are missing a trick. Exactly a decade ago, I was working at Auto Express and took delivery of my latest long-term test car. It was a Volvo V70 with a 2.4-litre 140bhp engine. What marked it out from almost everything else on the UK roads was its status as a bi-fuel model, with two fuel tanks - one for petrol, the other for LPG - hidden behind the filler flap. There was a suitably stocked forecourt near my home and I ran the estate for several months without ever needing to resort to petrol. The AA's fuel price archive tells me I was paying 38p per litre, while unleaded was 77p. At the time Volvo sold a range of bi-fuel models and several other mainstream manufacturers did the same. But in the last 10 years they've all disappeared from our showrooms. LPG has become overshadowed by interest - certainly with the media, though less so by the car-buying public - in hybrids and electric vehicles.