Right ocuk. I've started writing for a private hire drivers website and would appreciate some feedback on my first proper piece
Now it's for taxi drivers so or doesn't need to be Shakespeare but some pointers would be good
Now it's for taxi drivers so or doesn't need to be Shakespeare but some pointers would be good
one thing i would say is ignore the formatting (bleeding copy and paste) but any comments good or bad or helpful will be warmly welcomedWith a change of vehicle looming in the next 12 months you would think my search criteria would be plain and simple, something with room for 4 passengers some luggage, a bit of comfort and a reliable diesel under the bonnet. But with the cost of fuel continually increasing and the price gap between petrol and diesel widening ever further I thought it might be prudent to weigh up all my options, Enter stage left Petrol and LPG. Whilst obviously diesel is widely regarded as a more economical option over petrol I thought I’d better break the calculator out before I dismissed it entirely. Modern diesel engines have evolved to the point where they are technically superior to their petrol fuelled siblings and can as any PHV driver will testify to give eyewateringly large maintenance bills over the course of ownership.
So the challenge was on, I decided to look at a future PHV favourite the Vauxhall Insignia, Budgeting a maximum of 10k I decided I would find similar examples of petrol diesel and LPG powered vehicles.
First one I eyed was a 2009 1.8 16v petrol model in Sri trim with 38k on the clock 1 previous owner with FVSH screen price £8495
Next up was an identical car bar the engine, this time a 2l 16v 130 horsepower diesel lump again FVSH 1 owner screen price £9999
And finally the hunt was on for an elusive LPG powered insignia.I finally tracked one down on a forecourt in identical trim and spec to the other 2 powered with a 1.8 16v petrol engine with lpg conversion screen price £10250
So I have 3 likely candidates which are to all intensive purposes indentical apart from their pump of choice come fill up time. Quite a price difference in terms of purchase costs as well so it came time to break the calculator out.
Now as a Private Hire Driver my work is mainly in urban environments so it would be safe to quote urban fuel figures when doing the maths, My current Vectra has never strayed beyond 3mpg either way of her factory quoted urban mileage in 3 years of ownership so lets compare.
1,8 16v petrol – Vauxhall quote an urban mpg figure of 26.2 mpg
2.0 16v Diesel – Vauxhall quote an urban mpg figure of 44.2 mpg
1.8 16v LPG- no official mpg figures available but the general consensus is that lpg with a lower calorific value to petrol generally returns 10% mpg than a petrol equivilant so we’ll say 23.6 mpg
Some simple maths if I average 50k miles a year at current fuel costs of Diesel 142.9p Petrol 135.7p and LPG 73.9p per litre, (prices checked with petrolprices.com cheapest to the authors home within a 5 mile radius)
So cost per year is 50k /cars mpg figure x (cost perlitre x4.54)
Gallon of each
Diesel- £6.49 x 1131 Gallons per annum =£7340 a year in fuel or £4404 for 30k p.a
Petrol-£6.16 x 1908 Gallons per annum = £11753 a year in fuel or £7052 for 30k p.a.
LPG-£ 3.36 x 2119 Gallons per annum= £7120 a year in fuel £4272 for 30k p.a
Certainly gives us some food for thought, although there are a lot of variables to consider including the repair costs of each vehicle (diesels are generally deemed more expensive to maintain) and the fact that an LPG powered vehicle needs to be started on petrol before switching over to LPG also needs to be added to the thought process which makes if very difficult to separate Diesel and LPG.
In conclusion the only thing I can draw is that petrol is the clear loser. Both diesel and LPG have their pros and cons and after writing this piece I have to say i’m still not sure which i would go for. I would imagine the choice would come down to engine preference, a revvy petrol/lpg engine or a lazy torquey diesel lump.
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