HSV Is Working On LPG-Fuelled Cars.

[SpoolMan]

HSV needs feedback to push LPG button


HSV is working on LPG-fuelled hotties, but it'll need positive feedback from buyers before it gives the 'green' alt fuel the green light
Forget what you think you know above LPG fuelled vehicles...

Far from wheezing taxis, HSV is well down the track to having full-power dual-fuel LPG/Petrol powertrains in production for its Commodore-based models...
Indeed, the cars could be in showrooms as early as Q4 2009.

The vehicles, which will produce the same 317kW as the current petrol LS3 V8 HSVs, feature a state of the art liquid port injection (LPI) LPG system. The system is fully stability and traction control-friendly and is the work of HSV's in-house engineering team.

Based on $1.50/L unleaded and $0.60/L LPG, the pay back period for the system could be less than one year, the company claims.
Too good to be true?
You're right, there's one catch... You've got to march into your local HSV dealer and tell him or her you want one. And soon!
According to HSV Managing Director, Phil Harding, the company is looking for customer feedback on LPG.

"I'm deliberately trailing this [technology] in front of you guys and in front of dealers and in front of others because I'm trying to see where the market is going with LPG," Harding told the Carsales Network.

"Everyone I talk to as a potential customer or dealer, their major understanding of LPG is taxis -- so what we're trying to do is go deeper than that and actually maybe even do a bit of education.

"I get the feeling [most of our customers] have never heard of it [liquid injection]. We're saying: 'No guys this is not when you get in a taxi from the airport, this is actually a decently engineered system' and 'come try it'."
"There'll be a period next year where we actually get customers and dealers in to actually experience [the system]. We're looking for opinion," Harding stated.

According to the HSV boss, the new LPI system is still going through HSV's internal processes to gain business approval. Customer feedback and projected volumes will clearly play a key part in that process.
In terms of proof of concept, however, Harding is confident the system will "speak for itself".
"The LPG system is dual-fuel and currently replicates the performance targets the 'natural' petrol 6.2-litre engine will achieve," Harding revealed.
"At full throttle it goes back to petrol, so the science in the development of the product is in making those transitions as unnoticeable as possible. We're pretty pleased with the results at the moment."

One of the non-technical challenges Harding says the outfit is battling is deciding how the technology should be leveraged in HSV's product line-up.
"We had a meeting on it this week -- on what we do [to market the technology]. Do we build a specific model or do we offer it [the LPG system] as an option across the range?

"We haven't decided that yet. We're looking at different business cases and trying to get the pricing right in each business case."
According to HSV Engineering manager, Joel Stoddart, the LPI system is still in relatively early days of its development. The company is yet to complete formal fuel economy testing.

Stoddart is confident that the final fuel usage penalty will be around 15-18 per cent. This is impressive, given HSV is claiming the full 317kW output for the LPI equipped LS3 - as well as the same in-gear and standing start performance. 'Normal' dual-fuel LPG set-ups can 'cost' around 20 per cent in terms of power loss with fuel use increased by a similar increment.

Stoddart told the Carsales Network that the company had not trialled any mono-fuel LPI LPG engines. Despite the potential performance gains from a bespoke LPG engine, the cost of such an engineering program is beyond the scope of the current HSV program, he said.

Harding has not ruled out a pure-LPG model down the track, however.
Though the company will look to sell a message of lower annualized costs for its LPG-equipped cars, Harding stresses that program is about more than pure dollars and cents.

"The HSV customer says that fuel price wasn't a factor in his purchase... I don't know that that's true and I think as a company we should be responsible and look at improved ways of using the natural resources.
I don't want to get to a situation where our customers are looked upon in a negative way.

"Most customers buy a HSV because they've been successful and want to reward themselves. I want to create a situation where that continues and that his [the purchaser's] peers feel he's made a good choice."

Story from here:
http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2008...g-button-11187