Autogas hit by UK 2030 ban on gasoline, diesel engines

The UK government's recently announced plan to bring forward a ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans by 10 years to 2030 will hasten the demise of the country's already ailing autogas sector.

LPG accounts for just 0.2pc of UK road fuel demand. No manufacturers sell pure autogas vehicles in the UK, which means the only way to use autogas is to convert an engine or install an LPG engine to work in a bi-fuel system. As a result, the outlook for autogas demand is entwined with the fate of gasoline and diesel engines.

Demand has declined since the government ended grants for new and converted LPG-fuelled vehicles in the mid-2000s. Consumption was 61,000t in 2019, roughly half its peak of 120,000t in 2008. There were 105,000 LPG-capable vehicles in the UK last year, down from 170,000 in 2011.

Shell decommissioned its last UK autogas pump in October. And Autogas Limited — a joint venture between Shell and Calor, the UK arm of European distributor SHV — has since ceased trading.

"Customer demand for LPG for domestic transportation has declined due to changing customer preferences and the increasing availability of other lower carbon fuels. Many of the autogas sites were increasingly underutilised," Shell said at the time, adding that "Calor will continue to supply LPG into the existing nationwide network of around 1,000 fuel retailers".

With government subsidies pushing down the cost of electric vehicles (EVs), the incentive to convert to autogas — based on lower costs and lower emissions — is being undermined.

By Aidan Lea