Would you convert your car to run on cooking gas?

Sometime in 2011, Kieni MP Kanini Kega thought of importing a car. But the prevailing market at that time meant that importing the type of car that he wanted would be expensive, not only to purchase, but to run and maintain as well.

The MP said that his initial plan was to import a four-wheel drive Land Cruiser V8 that runs on petrol. But the cost of maintaining such a car in Kenya would be expensive. His dealer then notified him of a new “technology that is fast gaining popularity in western nations.

“When I heard of an option of buying a car that runs on gas, I was like why not. To me, the idea of owning a car with such a technology and which was only exclusive in Europe sounded interesting,” Mr Kega told the Saturday Nation.

That decision would not only prove exciting to the legislator, but also cost-effective. His expenditure on fuel was cut by almost 30 per cent, he says, as gas proved more efficient than petrol.

“I actually made the decision on impulse. And you know it’s a 4.5 litre vehicle, which would ideally be very expensive to run, but with the two options of petrol and gas, sometimes you do not have to worry about running out of fuel when you go to rural areas, that I mostly frequent as an MP, which in most cases lack petrol stations,” the MP said.

Hybrid cars

And MP Kega is not alone. Mr James Muchiri, a taxi driver in Nairobi, decided to install the technology in August last year, after the cost of running his car skyrocketed.

At the time, a company based in the Industrial Area was rolling out a programme that would transform vehicles into hybrid cars using gas to supplement either petrol and diesel.

“At the time, most fares charged on taxi hailing apps were experiencing a decline, as most companies, like Uber, were slashing down the amounts charged on customers per trip, popularly known as the base, to ward off competition,” said Mr Muchiri. “I was part of a group of the first 20 customers who had their cars remodelled to use the gas. At the time, I think I was among the first five people to benefit from the technology.”

The new technology infuses the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is used in most homes for cooking, to ignite and drive the car. It essentially turns a car into a hybrid motor vehicle that can use both regular petroleum and LPG as fuel.

“The conversion involves the upgrading of the engine of a car by fitting it with tools that help switch between using petrol and gas, so that the driver is able to alternate between the two modes from inside the vehicle with the touch of a button,” Mr Ken Muraguri, a technician in one of the workshops installing the technology on cars in Industrial Area told the Saturday Nation.

The car, said Mr Muraguri, is fitted with additional gadgets like an injector, a reducer, a filter, a gas tank, a ceiling unit and a switch, all which work together to converts the gas into an element that can generate a spark, ignite and run the car. At the onset, the idea sounded strange to Mr Muchiri, who had second thoughts on the safety and the practicability of the concept.

Mr Kega, for instance, said the challenges he faced at the start, was maintenance since refuelling could only be done at specific stations.

No leakages

“For the gas, you have to go to specific places, unlike in the case of petrol. I, for instance, refuel my gas in Industrial area. The other challenge is in terms of safety where I have to ensure that there are no leakages in the car,” said Mr Kega.

The mechanics of the concept, works just like in the case of petrol or diesel by generating a spark through a series of combustion mechanisms, said Mr Mr Muraguri.

“Once you turn on your engine, you turn on the switch installed in the dashboard of the car, which notifies the car, through a computer system that it is now running on gas. The communication is then transmitted to the valves controlling the gas in the cylinder installed at the back of the car,” said Mr Muraguri.

Safety in case of an accident is taken care of by inline gas cutoff. In case of leakage, the gas tank automatically shuts off 

From the cylinder, the gas moves to a reducer installed in the engine of the car, as liquid gas where it is then heated and turned into a vapour/gas. From here, the vapour form element, moves to the filter where all the dirt and impurities are filtered out, before the now purified gas, is then pushed to the injector lane, where it is distributed to each of the cylinders.

“At this point now, the mechanics at play are similar to those in the case of diesel or petrol, as the gas then moves to combustion chambers where it generates a spark and powers the car,” said Mr Muraguri.

But even with that simple explanation, many have raised concerns, not just on the safety of the gas itself, but also on the cost of installation, which can run up to Sh50,000 for a single car.

“One of the fears I have had over the years is the fear that the gas could leak, because you know with petrol, leakages are not such a problem. Petrol is safe in terms of leakages,” Mr Kega said.

But Mr Muraguri said the installation of the system is done in such a way that the pipes connecting the various elements, and through which the gas flows, are all on the outside, mostly underneath the car, to avoid such accidents.

Safety in case of an accident is taken care of by inline gas cutoff

“Safety in case of an accident is taken care of by inline gas cutoff. In case of leakage, the gas tank automatically shuts off,” said Mr Muraguri.

Others have also raised concerns with the standardisation of the technology, especially by regulatory authorities like the Kenya Bureau of Standardss.

But Kebs said the standardisation of the technology had been done.

“The KS2269:2020, Kenya Standard for application of LPG and compressed natural gases as engine fuels for internal combustion engines, is now in force and investors are at liberty to venture into this line of business,” said Kebs chief manager for standards development and trade, Mr Zacharia Lukorito.

About 800 Nairobi taxis and some private vehicle owners have since converted their vehicles to using LPG locally sold by Progas at its autogas stations manned by trained personnel.

Nopia, a ride-sharing company by Finnish company EkoRent, has five charging stations at Two Rivers Mall, the Hub Karen and Thika Road Mall.

Mr Peter Muiruri, a taxi driver in Nairobi said the technology has helped him save on fuel and the cost of running and maintaining his car.

“I am saving more money right now than I did before. The only challenge biggest with the new innovation is that refuelling has been adopted by only a few fuel stations,” said Mr Muiruri.

In Kenya, some of the early adopters of this new technology were Hashi Energy, which in an earlier statement said it is betting on LPG to cut the cost of transport across the region, and that it hopes that in the future, more cars on the road could be driving with LPG fuel.

And it is not only the autogas technology that is fast-gaining popularity in the country. In October, the Kenya Bureau of Standards certified two firms – Knights Energy and Opibus – to do conversion of tourism vans and buses into hybrid vehicles that will use electric engines.

Kebs has also released standards for electric motorcycles, which has attracted several investors eyeing the boda boda subsector.

In the past year, Procars Limited, which converts cars into hybrid vehicles to use LPG and petrol has opened a facility in Nairobi’s industrial area and set up four gas stations.

Besides fuel efficiency, the technology is also said to be environmentally friendly, as it burns cleaner and leaner than petroleum which is also better for the engine. The technology also extends the effective driving range of a car and is also safe.

Automobile Association of the UK says on their website that the fuel economy of LPG cars is about 20-25 per cent lower than regular petrol or diesel vehicles.

Empirically, the website adds, LPG-based vehicles produce 15 per cent less carbon dioxide, 30 per cent less carbon monoxide and 50 per cent less nitrogen oxides. As an additional benefit, LPG has a higher-octane rating providing greater performance than conventional gasoline and diesel, making it a popular alternative to oil-based fuels.

Globally, there were about 27 million autogas vehicles in 2019, a figure that is expected to triple by 2014, driven by the environmental benefits and relatively competitive cost, according to the UK website.

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