Hi all. I’ve a quick question that is slightly random… I am currently in the UK but will be moving to Pau in July. I am pondering getting my car converted to LPG but am concerned if I get it done in the UK that this won’t be acceptable in France. Would DREAL refuse it?
Alternatively I could get it converted in France but I have no idea on costs… Does anyone have a feel for this?
Many thanks
Simon
Hello Simon and welcome to the forum.
Please would you amend your Registration and give your Full Name as per our
T /C’s. If you are not sure how to do this, simply put your full name here… (on this thread) and I will amend it for you.
Cheers
Hi. Will do, just need a couple of mins!
Simon, you would be better to get it converted here in France. It wont be cheaper but the administrative workload would be less. Mark Rimmer is the man to parlais with as he is a Garagiste and is extremely savvy with vehicles and the French authorities.
Much appreciated for the speedy response, thank you Roger.
Hi Simon
More info here, see link ( bottom of page) for installers in your region and cheaper insurance following the conversion.
https://www.jerouleaugpl.fr/economies/idee-recue-4-assurance-gpl/
Thanks very much to you both, I didn’t know about the potential insurance reduction so that’s great!
Have you checked to see if it can be converted to run on E85 Bio-ethanol?
Whilst not commonplace in the UK yet, there are loads of filling stations in France. I just checked and the price at my nearest is 0.65/l against 0.75/l for LPG.
It is just a plug and play device, so you also don’t need to lose a load of boot space with a tank and pipes, nor do you need a separate filler. You simply use your existing tank, and if you can’t get E85 you put normal petrol in.
Not all cars can be converted, but if mine could, I’d probably choose this rather than LPG.
Hi Richard, thanks very much for this. Totally coincidentally I stumbled on E85 last night and you’re right it does seem a much better solution (albeit limited to France since other countries don’t seem to be so keen to adopt it).
The only sticking point is that at present it seems only cars up to 14CV can be converted (and recognised by the authorities) but mine is 21. This might change later in the year with an updated homologation., so I’ll keep an eye on it and hope it comes through before I move so I could get it converted and then zero rate the car on the CG…I think…
Actually…I have just found this which suggests the formula for calculating CV changed last month…
But I can’t find mention of this change elsewhere.
It makes my car (rounded down) to 14 (…and assuming my maths is correct which is distinctly unlikely EDIT: my maths was wrong…it’s 18…and I’m not convinced that’s correct either)
The link referenced in Wiki is this:
https://www.largus.fr/actualite-automobile/le-calcul-de-la-puissance-fiscal-desormais-different-10209400.html
(really need to brush up on my French)
We’d booked our car in for its second Contrôle Technique yesterday. Same dépôt but we were told they couldn’t CT a gas car and that it shouldn’t have been tested there last time!
Nice chap, though, got us an appointment at another centre a bit of a trek away yesterday afternoon.
Something to check on if you have a gas car before you get to the centre!
Thanks Ian…so certain CT test centres can’t test for gas. Cheers.
Did you have yours converted in France or UK… Or was it already fitted from new?
The car was petrol/LPG when bought.
Hi - I converted a landrover to LPG some years before moving it to French Reg. I was advised by both the officials and by the local Controle Technique it would be easier and cheaper to disconnect the LPG and register it as petrol only. I took their advice.