Manufacturers offering OEM LPG vans include Vauxhall and LDV, and these come with a full manufacturer warranty and other comforts such as dealer support.
However, there are many aftermarket converters offering services to fleets, with a large number listed as approved by TransportAction PowerShift and more to be found at the industry assocation web site, www.lpga.co.uk. Most involved in the sector agree that these conversions do vary widely in quality and fleets need to tread carefully.
James Joyce, technical director at Chichester-based Arun Autogas, explained: 'It is important to ensure you are dealing with someone reputable. This is an industry where a number of garages with some space in their workshop have decided to try their hand at LPG conversions and they just don't have the technical knowledge to do a good job. Hopefully, these people will leave the industry very quickly.
'On the other hand, companies like ourselves have the technical background to carry out a conversion to a high standard and have the capacity that fleets need when they decide to switch to LPG. We can handle up to 60 conversions in a month.'
Paul Busby, network manager at Ecogas Systems, which distributes gas conversion equipment, agrees that quality is an issue. He said: 'We are experts in advanced and modern engine management systems and are trying to elevate the industry to meet our standards. Fleets will play a major part in helping us to do this. We do have an approved network of converters and the quality of their work is good but there are some poor converters out there. Fleets need to ensure that they are well informed.'
Alternative fuels
Pressure is mounting on van fleets to adopt alternative fuels, with the Government backing a new clean fuel drive following the publication of a strategy document called 'Powering Future Vehicles'.
This predicts that within 10 years, 250,000 new vehicle sales annually will consist of gas, hybrid and fuel cell models. Commercial vehicle fleets are very much expected to be at the vanguard of this brave new world.
The document - which can be found at www.roads.dtlr.gov.uk - outlines a stratagem that consists of further investment in research, creating health and safety standards for vehicles, boosting development of clean fuel refuelling sites and offering new incentives to fleets to change their selection policies for fuels.
But while the Government's sticks grow larger and its carrots more juicy, the question that remains for many van fleet operators is this: how practical is it for us to adopt alternative fuels?
Although 'Powering New Vehicles' mentions a range of alternative fuels, only three are worth consideration by the commercial fleet manager today - liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and electricity.
CNG is used by a few fleets but has lately been almost completely overshadowed by LPG as it offers only specialised emissions advantages in comparison and has a virtually non-existent refuelling network.
Electricity has also been a marginal player and looks set to remain that way for the foreseeable future thanks to limitations in technology, with limited range and slow charging being the biggest obstacles. Batteries are also very expensive.
However, Citroen has been selling the Berlingo Electrique at the same price as its diesel-engined equivalent for a few years and claims to have sold 'hundreds' so far. Its range of 60 miles makes its potential applications limited but it has found some success in light duty, localised operations.
Other fleets are also trialling various types of electric vehicle technology. Delivery firm DHL has two Th!nk City electric cars operating in London. Here, range limitations do not come strongly into play but the vehicle clearly has a very small payload.
On a more practical note, Royal Mail is trying out new fast-charge technology called Wavedriver on two LDV Convoy vans, again in the City of London. Connected to an appropriate mains supply, Wavedriver can give vehicle batteries a 50% state-of-charge replenishment in less than 30 minutes, taking a fraction of the time of conventional chargers and overcoming a major obstacle to electric fleet adoption.
The Royal Mail's head of fleet, Mike Horlor, explained: 'Charging times have been a big problem. If you send a vehicle out in the morning and exhaust its range, then bring it back to the depot, conventional technology means that it doesn't charge quickly enough to go out for the afternoon run.
'You almost need to buy two vehicles where one conventional van would do. Wavedriver helps us get round this.'
However, although electric vehicles are making some progress, for most commercial vehicle fleets switching to alternative fuels means one option alone - LPG.
The reasons for this are simple. Almost all petrol engines can be converted to run on LPG, emissions are lower, the fuel is very cheap, conversion grants are available from the Government and a growing refuelling infrastructure is already in place.
Victor Lobb of LDV, which sells an LPG version of the Convoy, explained: 'LPG is today's practical alternative fuel solution. In 10 years, we may be getting somewhere with fuel cells, hydrogen and other technologies but for van fleet operators now, LPG offers a range of concrete advantages in environmental and cost terms.'
David Sellors, Vauxhall's consultant for alternative fuel vehicles, added: 'Even if you factor out the environmental advantages, LPG makes an excellent financial case for itself.
The average price per litre of LPG is around 34.9 pence and this can be driven lower if you bunker fuel. There is slightly reduced fuel consumption of around six-eight mpg but we believe that, with the grants available, most operators start moving into savings over diesel once a vehicle has covered about 25,000 miles.'
He points out that the objection most often cited by van fleets when he takes the LPG proposition to them is that the refuelling structure is limited but he said: 'It is expanding every day and bunkering fuel brings the price down to nearer 29 pence per litre.'
In fact, Great Britain's 1,000th LPG refuelling site, in Woolwich, is due to open around the time that this magazine hits your desk. And LPG bunkering companies are prepared to talk to even the smallest fleets about the possibility of installing facilities.
Paul McKeown, national autogas manager at Flogas, said: 'We don't really have a lower size limit for the smallest fleets when we look to install a bunker. Our approach is to put together a partnership report that looks at the feasibility of the situation. We are more interested in mileage and potential for growth than actual fleet size.'
However, while there are many industry voices willing to speak up for LPG, those who have operated the vehicles are wary of promoting the fuel as a panacea for all fleet needs.
Paul Bellamy, at DHL, has operated around 100 LPG Ford Transits for three years and is now in the process of defleeting them and acquiring 100 more. He said: 'They have performed well but there have been some difficulties. Residual value is a big one.
'This has fluctuated massively over the life of the vehicle and has made predicting operating costs difficult. We have been in situations where they have cost more to run than diesels, which is clearly something that we don't want to see.'
Mike Horlor, at the Royal Mail, also warned: 'Fleet managers need to tread carefully with alternative fuels. It would be nice to be able to find a universal alternative to the diesel engine but, in our experience, it simply doesn't exist. LPG is a good alternative but only for certain uses.
'For example, the clean air policies in different cities emphasise different measures. Some are concerned about particulates, others about NOx, and it's a matter of finding which fuels and which vehicles are going to perform best in those circumstances.'
There are other common objections to LPG. Some fleet managers feel that, because conversions are based on petrol engines, the lower-torque characteristics compared to diesel make the vehicles unsuitable for heavier loads. Others point out that the low price of LPG is based entirely on favourable taxation conditions and that widespread adoption would soon see the Government raise levies on alternative fuels.
However, despite these potential difficulties, it is clear that many believe widespread adoption of LPG by fleets is inevitable.
David Sellors, at Vauxhall, concluded: 'There are many fleet managers out there who have got their heads in the sand about LPG. They know diesel and they want to stick with it - but there are definite advantages to LPG and the Government is making it fairly clear that it will do as much as it can to make those people look at the options in front of them.
'Our view is that van fleet operators have three choices - petrol, diesel and LPG. Each has its pros and cons and, on many fleets, we expect to see a mix. Fleets must choose the right vehicle and the right fuel for the right journey.'
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