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The Benefits of using Propane as a Motor Fuel
A very versatile fuel, propane (aka, liquified petroleum gas, LPG, LP gas) has been used in vehicles more than any other alternative fuel internationally. It is commonplace in some countries to actually choose whether you want gasoline or propane as the main fuel for your new car (some European and far East countries). It is the most widely use alternative fuel, and vehicle tecknology for propane has continued to advance over the years.
Propane is perhaps the cleanest vehicle fuel, showing improvements over gasoline emissions in every major pollutant category not only at the tailpipe but also over the fuel life cycle.
Using Propane as a Motor Vehicle Fuel
Propane in the United States is primarily known as a portable fuel used for backyard and camping cooking, home heating, and more recently, patio-heating appliances. Some people are also aware that forklifts and some service vehicles operating inside large factories have been using propane for a very long time.
Vehicle manufacturing and conversions in the U.S. to use propane as a public motor fuel started in the mid-70's. Back then, the conversions were somewhat simple because they utilized direct vaporization of propane into the carburetor to distribute the fuel to the engine in a manner very similar to the way gasoline was.
As EPA emission standards became tougher and engine fuel controls migrated from carburetors to individual cylinder injection in the mid-80's, new problems were created for propane conversions. Propane basically disappeared from the U.S. while component manufacturers addressed the various issues surrounding the replication of sequential fuel injection and on-board computer control of fuels to meet EPA emission standards and customer performance preferences. Use of computer controlled direct port sequential fuel injection is now used.
Components are manufactured, combined into specific application conversion systems, and submitted to EPA for testing and certification. The systems mimic the OEM systems as closely as possible for optimal performance and reliability, with no loss of power, and are designed to optimize the fuel's use.
Vehicle Conversion to Bi-Fuel Propane by Alternative Fuel Concepts
Alternative Fuel Concepts installs EPA certified bi-fuel propane conversion systems that utilize advance technology developed to interface directly with sequential fuel injection and on-board computers typically found on today's advanced engines. The following is a list of applications currently available for bi-fuel propane conversions through Alternative Fuel Concepts (more to follow):
| Make |
Year |
Engine |
Models |
| Chevy/GMC |
2000-2006 |
5.3 L |
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| Chevy/GMC |
2000-2006 |
6.0 L |
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| Chevy/GMC |
2000-2006 |
8.1 L |
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