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LPG Corsa achieves CO2 emissions of 98gm/kmSource: MillbrookA production-feasible family car that emits less than 100g of CO2 per kilometer has been developed by Millbrook, the UK automotive test and development centre. Based on a standard Vauxhall Corsa, the vehicle uses proven LPG technology to reduce emissions in every category relative to petrol and an outstanding CO2 figure. A conventional vehicle in this sector typically produces around 145/km. “We believe this is the first production-feasible five door car to smash the 100g/km barrier using a conventional internal combustion engine,” says Millbrook’s head of laboratories, Andrew Eastlake. “Our technology offers a low-cost, low-risk route to immediate CO2 reduction at a price that could be very attractive to business users”. The company has already built more than 10,000 alternative fuel vehicles at its engineering centre near Bedford (UK), providing OE-quality LPG and CNG options for major vehicle manufacturers. To deliver a sub-100g family car, Millbrook employed its expertise in alternative fuels to convert the Corsa’s 1.0ltr gasoline engine to run on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), using proven production hardware to ensure a robust and affordable solution. The improvement in emissions performance has been achieved by designing the installation to run on a single fuel rather than compromising its design to allow it to switch between conventional and alternative fuels. Once the need to run on two fuels is removed, the vehicle can be optimized for the new fuel, with significant benefits in efficiency and hence emissions and running costs. Millbrook’s vehicle has achieved CO2 emissions of just 98g/km in the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) industry-standard test for combined urban and highway driving whilst being Euro 4 compliant. “This is an affordable, production-feasible solution with no bespoke hardware and, apart from the switch to our proven LPG injection system, there are no changes to the engine,” emphasizes Eastlake. “It would offer driveability and durability equivalent to the standard vehicle and could enter production very soon.” Millbrook believe that the potential additional cost to the end customer will be under £2000, making it extremely attractive to urban fleets. This level of premium could be easily recovered in the first year through fuel savings and congestion charge for low emission vehicles. Millbrook has already considered the next stage of development such as simple hardware modifications to increase the compression ratio and change the valve timing to better match the combustion characteristics of LPG. “The show car demonstrates an immediate, low-cost solution, but with additional modifications we believe that Millbrook can achieve even better emissions performance with the same proven technology,” concludes Eastlake.
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