The future of diesel. What should I do?

Lyonnesse

Guest
I've dreamed of a van conversion, to my own specification, for years. I've just seen Rhale conversions at Peterborough and an upcoming pension payout is burning a hole in my pocket, but ...

Suppose I spend it all on a nearly new van and a smart conversion, the way things are going I won't be able to move it in a few years. I imagine more and more places will make it difficult or more expensive to enter certain zones, and gradually our world will get smaller. Aside from that, I'd love to be a bit greener.

I'm no techie but I'm guessing there won't be a future diesel to electric conversion available, and a van bought for business would simply be scrapped and replaced by a greener version. A camper is different though, as we'd be spending more on the interior than the shell. We want a big van so are looking at the Citroen L4H3, which I believe only comes in diesel anyway. Could it be converted to run on LPG (I know that's still a fossil fuel)?

What do people think? We travel in Europe as well as the UK.
 
To be honest, I wouldn’t think for a minute you’re the only one who’s in this dilemma.
I’m hoping that someone will see a financial opportunity for a diesel/electric conversation. Or, just maybe our political leaders will look again at the, diesel being the better fuel, nonsense we were told a few years ago.
Diesel’s won’t be banned over night, we will probably have to pay through the nose for it.

On a similar subject. I’ve seen no evidence lately of the global warming I’ve been warned of.
 
I honestly do believe that there is an enormous amount of scare mongering going on about diesel engined vehicles as there are so many millions of them on the roads throughout Europe, most especially in France where the vast majority of all vehicles have diesel engines.

And as for you @Lyonnesse receiving your pension pay out, why not build one yourself, honestly it isn't that difficult to do and you should end up with a far better built van that is exactly to your own design. Why not pop over to see us all on the sister site of Motorhome Builder?
 
Trying to add a link to the FloGas website. There’s a piece referring to adding lpg to diesel in there business section.
 
Millie Master said:
I honestly do believe that there is an enormous amount of scare mongering going on about diesel engined vehicles as there are so many millions of them on the roads throughout Europe, most especially in France where the vast majority of all vehicles have diesel engines.

And as for you @Lyonnesse receiving your pension pay out, why not build one yourself, honestly it isn't that difficult to do and you should end up with a far better built van that is exactly to your own design. Why not pop over to see us all on the sister site of Motorhome Builder?
Click to expand...
Don't agree with you about the scare-mongering. There's too much evidence to the contrary, but it will be interesting watching the French government trying to wrest those ancient white Renaults from the paysans. :)

On the subject of van building, we already did that a few years ago and can't face it again. We want to enjoy some life now instead of working. We definitely couldn't do the fantastic job Rhale do anyway - we haven't got the tools or the materials. It's been great looking at all the moho builder websites and YouTube channels. There are so many amazing ideas out there.
 
Trotter said:
Trying to add a link to the FloGas website. There’s a piece referring to adding lpg to diesel in there business section.
Click to expand...
Thanks Trotter. I eventually found the link: Diesel/LPG mix in diesel engines. It costs in excess of £8000 though, so good for haulage fleets, as they say, where they can get a return in under 2 years. Maybe it will become cheaper if it gets more popular, though the fact that LPG is a fossil fuel might be a sticking point.

I guess the ultimate way to get over the dilemma is to get a caravan - but it's just not the same
 
I think i have found the answer........ well for me anyway!!

i've just recently replaced my campervan, getting rid of an old Iveco daily conversion and replacing with an interesting 2.5 litre diesel 7.5 m long camper/motorhome conversion. used to be a bus and was converted to enable a car to be driven inside via ramps. has the normal hob, grill, 3 way fridge, sink, tv, double bed and on board heater however doesn't have the restrictive motorhome layout of sofas and tables. i use folding items to set up my 'home' once the car is out of the van with the bonus they can be also used outside. The bed can be stowed away during travel and day times but is easily set up for night time routine.

Anyway my point is that rather than worrying about getting into the cities with the campervan why not use a smaller, cheaper, more acceptable alternative vehicle and leave your camper set up at a site or whereever???
 
Sapper said:
I think i have found the answer........ well for me anyway!!

i've just recently replaced my campervan, getting rid of an old Iveco daily conversion and replacing with an interesting 2.5 litre diesel 7.5 m long camper/motorhome conversion. used to be a bus and was converted to enable a car to be driven inside via ramps. has the normal hob, grill, 3 way fridge, sink, tv, double bed and on board heater however doesn't have the restrictive motorhome layout of sofas and tables. i use folding items to set up my 'home' once the car is out of the van with the bonus they can be also used outside. The bed can be stowed away during travel and day times but is easily set up for night time routine.

Anyway my point is that rather than worrying about getting into the cities with the campervan why not use a smaller, cheaper, more acceptable alternative vehicle and leave your camper set up at a site or whereever???
Click to expand...
Oooooh! Have you got any pictures? I love things like that. Too big for us, as we're down-sizing to do more stealth camping but it sounds amazing
 
I've been googling and I found this: Converting petrol and diesel to electric. It's a clunky website and I've not found any prices at a quick glance, but there's plenty still to read.

I wouldn't dream of doing it now because I don't expect it to be 'up to speed' as it were. It does fill me with hope that this would be an option for the future, as technology advances. So maybe I'll have a new van by the end of the year ...
 

Found it, knew it was on here somewhere.
I’ve watched the series. Not saying I understand half of it, but if batteries improve, well who knows.
 
There would be no point anyway in converting an existing vehicle if the objective is to be able to enter LEZs.
They - at least in the UK - base access on the vehicle as originally built and almost always ignore both any improvements to the emissions OR any faults which may have developed.
It would be a lot fairer if the annual MOT test included some kind of practical emissions check in addition to the basic 'smoke' test, and that additional test could be used to get some kind of equivalent to the German'Umweltplakette', but based on Actual performance, not Theoretical one, and renewed on an annual basis. I bet there are plenty of older vans that are cleaner then nearly new but badly maintained ones.
 
I have a diesel Berlingo which I adapt to sleep and camp in.I would like something a bit more environmentally friendly but think in changing I would be just adding to environmental damage by using further resources.
 
Lyonnesse said:
I've dreamed of a van conversion, to my own specification, for years. I've just seen Rhale conversions at Peterborough and an upcoming pension payout is burning a hole in my pocket, but ...

Suppose I spend it all on a nearly new van and a smart conversion, the way things are going I won't be able to move it in a few years. I imagine more and more places will make it difficult or more expensive to enter certain zones, and gradually our world will get smaller. Aside from that, I'd love to be a bit greener.

I'm no techie but I'm guessing there won't be a future diesel to electric conversion available, and a van bought for business would simply be scrapped and replaced by a greener version. A camper is different though, as we'd be spending more on the interior than the shell. We want a big van so are looking at the Citroen L4H3, which I believe only comes in diesel anyway. Could it be converted to run on LPG (I know that's still a fossil fuel)?

What do people think? We travel in Europe as well as the UK.
Click to expand...

Well I’ve just returned home after a few nights in Cumbria. Presently emptying everything out of my pvc as it’s the last time I will be using it.
I have 2 weeks to spruce it up and fix a few minor issues before my knee replacement at the end of the month. Once recovered it will be part exchanged against a new / nearly new C or A class which will be Diesel. Haven’t even thought of a Petrol motorhome, are any available ? I don’t visit cities as I like to get away to scenic remote places so the exclusion zones will not be a problem. It will be the last motorhome I buy and I reckon it will see me out and still be chugging away spewing out pollution when I decide my motorhoming days are finished.
 
Trotter said:
To be honest, I wouldn’t think for a minute you’re the only one who’s in this dilemma.
I’m hoping that someone will see a financial opportunity for a diesel/electric conversation. Or, just maybe our political leaders will look again at the, diesel being the better fuel, nonsense we were told a few years ago.
Diesel’s won’t be banned over night, we will probably have to pay through the nose for it.

On a similar subject. I’ve seen no evidence lately of the global warming I’ve been warned of.
Click to expand...


We are already paying about 8p / 10p more per litre for diesel for something that take less refining, decades ago diesel was vastly cheaper than petrol for this one reason. We are being ripped off on diesel prices.
 
I’ve always thought that the car makers and oil companies would find a work around to keep diesel on the road as they’ve to much to lose things like new exhaust systems with carbon capture there’s loads in development think the Diesel engine will be around longer that you think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top