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  • I bought a petrol Nissan Elgrand at a Japanese auction and imported it, with a view to living in it in Europe, criss-crossing the continent so as to avoid excessive heat or cold. Then I got sick and depressed and did nothing with it.

    Now I'm ready to resume the project. I had assumed that I'd convert it to LPG and buy bioLPG when possible. But recently LPG seems to have become less attractive in the UK because of filling station pumps being removed in favour of chargers, and sharply rising LPG prices. Motoring journos seem to think the 2035 ban on new petrol/diesel cars will also kill off LPG. I don't understand why. But I'm having a look at CNG conversion, which allows you to use biomethane.

    Biomethane, though barely available here, seems set to become a popular standard for HGVs in the very near future, in the UK and Europe. The road haulage industry is relying on it to meet net zero targets. (They can't use EVs except for trucks which do short, urban routes.) It's cheaper and cleaner than LPG. Governments are backing it and taxes are fixed at low rates. The UK is the slowest at building the hundreds of promised filling stations. In other countries there's already a decent network.

    Nobody's talking about it as a fuel for vans. It needs 3x bigger tanks than LPG... probably 150 litres to get the same range as the donut LPG tanks which fit in the well of your spare wheel. The tanks are also very, very heavy. The conversion kits are similar to LPG kits, but more expensive to buy and fit.

    Finding space for the tanks is tricky. If you fit them inside the van you need sealing and venting hardware, to meet safety requirements. It's best to put them under the floor, but there won't be room there if you retrofit a van, unless you start cutting it up. VW used to have a range of LHD CNG-powered cars . They were designed with underfloor tanks from the get-go. Here's the Audi A3 Sportback 30 g-tron.

    And here's a review of a CNG powered Caddy from 2017. https://www.parkers.co.uk/vans-pickups/news/2017/volkswagen-caddy-tgi-review/ https://imgur.com/a/uxf9vUY

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