With fluctuating fuel prices alternative fuel for cars is
now a reality. Australian drivers will never be immune from price hikes in fuel
because of the distances travelled. Alternative fuel cars . com.au will advise
on what is currently or soon to be available in Australia to fill the
alternative fuel market .
Ford Australia currently has on
offer 5 Alternative fuel vehicle Models excluding Modeo and Focus
Diesel.
They are Falcon FG XT,G6 and GSE.The FG ute and the BF Mk3
Wagon is also available in this dedicated LPG format.
All are the 4.0 lt engines with the Ford 100,000/three year warranty.
LPG as we are all aware has been with us for well over twenty years. In
the early days LPG conversions gave us cheap fuel alternative but
unreliable performance. Safety standards were short of acceptable and
many vehicles found engine fires especially with towing and usually in
a up hill situation. This was usually caused by LPG gas line too close
to hot engine components. These days things have vastly improved and
these engines and conversions are fitted under strict guidelines.
3,984 cc 4.0 lt. in-line 6 engine with 92.3 mm bore, 99.3 mm stroke,
10.7 compression ratio, double overhead cam and four valves per cylinder
E Gas
Multi-point injection fuel system
New for Falcon E-Gas 2011
The Australian Government has now undertaken a initiative with Ford Geelong to produce a E Gas engine for the Falcon for 2011.
"Industry minister, Senator Kim Carr said the Rudd Government has
contributed $42 million from its Green Car Innovation Fund to what is an important milestone in Ford Australia’s evolution."
It is expected to be 2.0. This will hopefully be a lifeline to Ford Geelong and manufacturing motor vehicles in Australia. This engine may also appear in the 2011 Ford Territory
Fuel economy for the ute : Fuel economy ADR 81/00: 16.2
Ford has had the dedicated LPG engine for some time with mixed
opinions. LPG yes is cheaper, but economy is not as good so the balance is
between extra paid for a conversion or vehicle to fuel usage costs. In Australia
with the vast abundance of LPG pricing should be low but in recent times this
commodity has risen in price relative to petrol and Diesel.
Without going into politics and environmental issues seriously for the
Australian driver if we wanted to seriously relieve our dependence on petrol government whoever they may be at the time would have this fuel source extremely cheap and viable, but this is a complex situation
affecting many other groups and organisations..
In all of the Ford LPG models the one engine means Kw and Nm remain the same, tank
sizes vary on the wagon and GSE 116Lt to the others only 93Lt..The
E-Gas FG's claimed power and torque peaks are also virtually unchanged. Peak
power of 156kW is now at 4750rpm (was 5000) and max torque is 371Nm at 2750rpm
(unchanged).
I have asked the question to a major fleet owner why LPG has not been a
consideration, the answer was yes it had been and yes Ford had actually loaned a
test vehicle but the answer was still no. For Australian motorists and fleet
owners it logical that the actual availability of LPG throughout Australia is
limited. Certain fleets using a dedicated fuel card find that the service
station brand that they use is erratic in its location of LPG sites. Rural
country areas too lack a consistent service station LPG availability.
Dedicated LPG is great just don't run out of it. If the dollar crunchers in
major companies operating fleets cannot see its viability what hope does mere
mortal drivers and families have in using this what should be a terrific
and effective alternative fuel source.
Australia.
