Budget car brand Dacia is stepping on the gas – with a cleaner and cheaper alternative to diesel.
The no-frills sibling of French giant Renault has become the first car-maker to offer ‘dual-fuel’ versions of its cars, with specific models capable of running on liquid petrol gas and petrol in combination.
That will give owners a claimed average saving of £594 on their annual fuel bill, or nearly £2,400 over a four-year life of a Personal Contract Purchase deal depending on model, as well as a combined range of more than 620 miles, says Dacia.
Dual-fuel Dacia: Ray Massey has been driving the Duster SUV with an LPG dual-fuel power source, running on liquid petrol gas and conventional unleaded
These are not after-market conversions but cars available direct from the factory.
And Dacia is the first manufacturer to offer LPG versions across the range, it says.
The Romanian-built vehicles use a new 1.0-litre turbocharged dual-fuel powertrain combining petrol and LPG capabilities and are badged ‘TCe 100 Bi-Fuel’.
I’ve just been driving a Dacia Duster SUV fitted with the bi-fuel technology, which is also available on the Sandero and Logan variants in the LPG line up.
The bi-fuel car I drove was a five-speed manual in Comfort trim priced from £14,695, though the range begins with the base–spec Essential at £13,195.
When compared with the equivalent traditional petrol version, there’s around a £400 premium for the LPG variants.
This will hit ‘break-even’ point at 12,000 miles.
With UK drivers covering an average of 7,600 miles a year, buyers will be able to recover this price difference in less than 24 months – and after that it is savings for the owner, it claims.
Prices for the LPG Duster models start from £13,195 and the bi-fuel option is available in higher specifications
LPG conversion have become popular in recent years, especially for cars with big fuel-guzzling engines as a means to make them more economical to run on a daily basis
The entire Duster range starts from £11,245 for the base-level Access 1.0-litre petrol version, but that’s not available as a bi-fuel.
My own bi-fuel Duster had a claimed LPG fuel efficiency of 35.3mpg.
That’s less than the 44.1 mpg in petrol mode only.
But with LPG at 63p per litre – half the current price of petrol during the coronavirus pandemic – the economics quickly add up.
The Duster I drove had a 38-litre LPG tank plus a petrol tank of 50 litres, which Dacia says gives a minimum combined range of 635 miles of which 240 miles was down to the LPG.
It reckons the average will be a total of 803 miles, of which 318 is LPG and 485 petrol.
Dacia also make some bold claims on environmental benefits from its bi-fuel system, noting that LPG offers: a 40 per cent saving in running costs; an 11 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions for the Duster (9 per cent for the Sandero); produces 80 per cent less harmful NOx than diesel; and is 50 per cent quieter than a diesel engine.
There are currently 1,200 LPG filling stations across the UK, most of them found at conventional filling stations
When can you fill up with LPG and does it feel different to drive?
From an ownership point of view, it’s easy enough to fill up via a dedicated and differently-sized nozzle aperture right next to the one for petrol.
There are currently 1,200 LPG filling stations across the UK, usually alongside the petrol and diesel.
The car always starts in petrol mode but, once up to temperature, defaults automatically to LPG provided there is fuel in the tank.
The driver can also choose manually which fuel system to use by pressing a simple switch in the cockpit.
If the LPG runs out, the car automatically reverts back to petrol power.
Cheap and cheerful: There’s no glitz or glam inside the Dacia Duster LPG, but it does everything you want mustache and soul patch combo is a great example of simple motoring
The driver can also choose manually which fuel system to use by pressing this simple switch in the cockpit.
If the LPG runs out, the car automatically reverts back to petrol power
Dacia also claim ‘superior torque’ in LPG mode though to be honest I struggled to tell the difference, which frankly I saw as an advantage.
I don’t really want to feel a difference.
I want the drive to be smooth and event-free, which in fact it was.
But acceleration from rest to 62mph is 13.8 seconds under LPG – 0.6 seconds faster than with petrol. Top speed is 106mph with petrol, but 2mph less with LPG.
And an additional plus – the vehicles retain their practicality because the cleverly-packaged extra LPG fuel tank has no impact on boot space.
Servicing and maintenance intervals are identical to the standard petrol models with the same three-year, 60,000-mile warranty.
LPG is a much bigger proposition on the Continent and previously diesel-dependent Dacia hopes this will help the UK catch up.
Dacia also claim ‘superior torque’ in LPG mode.
However, Ray said he struggled to tell the difference compared to a standard petrol
Over a 4 year finance agreement, which is the most popular term we see Dacia customers taking, there’s a potential to save around £1,696 on fuel costs versus the petrol engine equivalent
British motorists have had a mixed experience of LPG, however, which those with longer memories may recall.
As with diesel, ministers once hailed the LPG fuel as a great way to ‘save the planet’ and offered generous tax-payer funded grants to persuade drivers to take it up.
Many did, or had their cars converted.
Then those same ministers swept away the grants leaving many LPG owners high and dry. Why should they trust it this time?
Well, says, Dacia, there are no grants this time around.
And so the economic arguments stand on their own feet, it argues.
Head of Dacia UK Luke Broad said that with petrol prices currently at a relative low and base around 110p per litre:’
Over a 4 year finance agreement, which is the most popular term we see Dacia customers taking, there’s a potential to save around £1,696 on fuel costs versus the petrol engine equivalent.
‘That’s as well as 2.4 tonnes of Co2 over the same period using 12,000 miles as an average.’
But he added: ‘When fuel prices begin to stabilise at around 129p per litre, the savings become even greater at around £2,400 over the term.’
LPG versions of every car in the Dacia range, including the smallest – the Sandero (pictured)
Mr Broad said the modest price increase for the dual-fuel version would be more than offset by the savings: ‘We’ve price position the vehicle at just £400 more than the ‘normal’ petrol engine equivalent.
‘That means taking into account the fuel savings on today’s petrol prices, there’s still over £1,000 worth of saving to be had and once petrol prices normalise, savings are increased to around £2,000.’
‘Bi-Fuel vehicles offer all of the benefits of a diesel engine but with none of the negatives.
When compared to a Duster diesel, Bi Fuel is £1,600 cheaper.
On Logan it’s £1,500 cheaper.’
An LPG version of the Sandero is claimed to emit 9% less CO2 than the standard petrol model
The Logan estate (pictured) is also available as an LPG version, priced from £13,345
Dacia don’t offer diesel engines on Sandero, so no comparison is available, he said.
Over the last seven years back-to basics Dacia has sold more than 175,000 cars in the UK and attracted something of a cult following, particularly for cheap and cheerful personalisations.
Dacia Bi-Fuel prices start at £9,145 for the Sandero, £10,545 for the Sandero Stepway, £11,095 for the Logan, £13,345 for the Logan Stepway and £13,195 for the Duster.
