Dear Editor, I refer to the conversion of my Mazda B2600 Light Truck from Petrol only to dual fuel Petrol & LP Gas.
The quote from a Tamworth business specialising in this matter was about $4,500.00. A local Armidale installer quoted about $3,500.00. Three other installers failed to return my call.
Finally the work was done in 24 hours (over night) by an installer in Fairfield (Sydney) for $1,700.00 supply & fix, using a reconditioned storage tank rather than a new tank.
The Federal government had a $1,500.00 rebate for conversion that expired on 30/06/2011 to be replaced by a $1,250.00 rebate for the first 25,000 PRIVATE vehicles converted in 2011/2012.
The rebate IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE VEHICLES and NOT business vehicles. This is a crazy decision protecting petrol companies and working against carbon control.
Driving back from Sydney I paid 60-70 cents per litre for gas, and saved about $40.00 in fuel cost.
So the net cost to convert has been about $160.00 and falling.
In Armidale, allegedly because of freight costs, I pay about 80 cents per litre for LPGas rather than 140 – 150 cents per litre for petrol.
My weekly petrol bill is about 60 litres, or a saving of about $45.00 per week or an estimated over $2,000.00 per year at present prices.
Most importantly, truck performance feels slightly better and gas consumption is about the same as petrol.
My son-in-law converted his family Magna sedan for the same price and lost part (about 40%) of his boot space to the storage tank.
I am happy to discuss this matter with any person who wants to save money on fuel bills and reduce carbon emissions from their vehicles.
Yours faithfully
Jack Arnold
{local land line prefix}5 3881
Thanks Jack