The evolution has seen the development of a bifuel system for the range extender engine allowing it to adopt alternative and renewable fuels
in place of petrol. These fuels are Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Biomethane and Biopropane.
Adopting these fuels allows carbon emissions from the range extender engine to be reduced
by 10% when LPG is used, 20% when CNG is used and by 99% for these fuels renewable
counterparts of biomethane (in place of CNG) and biopropane (in place of LPG). Biomethane
and biopropane can both be made from waste feedstocks such as food waste, farm waste and
sewage and both are in volume production already. Biomethane and biopropane are ‘drop in’
replacement fuels for CNG and LPG and require no changes to refuelling infrastructure or to
a vehicle already evolved with a bi-fuel fuel system (CNG or LPG). All of these fuels are
available today and also offer 30-50% operating cost savings. Further savings are expected as
biomethane and biopropane production volumes continue to ramp up.
The evolution of the TX and VN5 was first revealed during London Climate Action Week and
on 27th June 2022 at our launch event at ME London, 336-337 The Strand, WC2R 1HA with
the vehicles available for viewing between 11am and 5pm.
On 28th and 29th of June a TX fitted with the LPG/biopropane bi-fuel system was displayed at
Reset Connect (www.reset-connect.com) at ExCeL London and available for viewing between
9am and 5pm.
Details of the bi-fuel evolution of the LEVC TX and VN5 can be found on our website
www.bi-fuel-taxis-lcvs.com.
The bi-fuel system consists of the following components:
Prins VSI-3 DI system
LPG/biopropane fuel tank or CNG/biomethane fuel tank
LPG/biopropane vaporiser or CNG/biomethane pressure regulator (both warmed by
engine coolant)
Gaseous fuel injectors
Bi-fuel ECU
The Prins VSI-3 DI system comes with a 3 year warranty.
The LPG/biopropane evolution of the TX adopts a 50 litre fuel tank and the CNG/biomethane
evolution adopts two 40 litre fuel tanks. Considering the vehicle range using petrol, the
Press release
LPG/biopropane tank provides a further 90% of this range and the CNG/biomethane tank
provides a further 70% of this range. Based on LEVC’s WLTP drive cycle based range figures of
64 miles using the battery and a further 319 miles using the 36 litre petrol tank (so total range
383 miles) the bi-fuel evolutions therefore deliver a further 287 miles for LPG/biopropane and
223 miles for CNG/biomethane. Total range is therefore 670 miles for the bi-fuel
LPG/biopropane evolution and 606 miles for the bi-fuel CNG/biomethane evolution. A
number of fuel tank solutions are also being developed for the VN5 including placing the tanks
under the floor rather than in the payload area.
We are also working with fuel manufacturers and suppliers to grow the existing refuelling
station network for CNG, biomethane, LPG and biopropane. If you are interested in adding
LPG/biopropane or CNG/biomethane refuelling facilities to your site to support these vehicles
then please do get in contact with us via our website.
Conversion costs are still in development but we target the system paying for itself in 12 to
18 months. This of course depends on the number of miles driven, the miles per gallon
achieved and future changes in the price of the fuels. Prices for biomethane and biopropane
are expected to decrease in the future as production volumes continue to ramp up.
On the road the zero carbon
