The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry is actively working to introduce LPG hybrid vehicles. After conducting a pilot project for over a year, the LPG industry confirmed improvements in fuel efficiency and has entered negotiations with automobile manufacturers for the production of LPG hybrid vehicles.
According to the energy industry on the 22nd, the Korea LPG Association, which has SK Gas and E1 as members, conducted a pilot project for LPG hybrid taxis with four taxi companies and the automobile development company Bluegent from August 2023 until the end of last year. An association official noted, "The pilot project confirmed a 69% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to existing LPG taxis after driving LPG hybrid vehicles for more than 10 km."
The Korea Automotive Technology Institute also modified four Kia K5 gasoline hybrid vehicles into LPG hybrids for fuel efficiency testing. As a result, the fuel efficiency of LPG hybrid vehicles was improved to 16 km per liter (L), which is 68% better than LPG vehicles (9.6 km/L), and the carbon dioxide emissions were lower at 77 grams per kilometer than for LPG vehicles (139 grams/km).
LPG has been used as a transportation fuel since the late 1960s. Since 1982, taxis have been permitted to use LPG, and since 1988, people with disabilities and national merit individuals have been allowed to operate LPG vehicles. The total number of registered LPG vehicles in Korea peaked at 2.456 million in 2010, and has been on a downward trend since then. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as of the end of last year, there were 1.85 million registered LPG vehicles in the country, representing about 7% of the total (approximately 26.3 million).
The LPG industry expects that the launch of LPG hybrid vehicles will help increase the consumption of LPG for transportation. An LPG industry representative said, "Just as the LPG 1-ton truck market revived after the discontinuation of the diesel 1-ton truck, the consumption of LPG for transportation could increase once LPG hybrid vehicles hit the market."
Among the automobile manufacturers, Renault Korea has shown interest in LPG hybrid vehicles. A Renault official stated, "We have the LPG model QM6 and related technologies, so we are interested in LPG hybrids, but nothing has been confirmed internally. We need to assess market conditions and the flow of policies."
Currently, the LPG automobile models sold in Korea include Hyundai's Avante, Sonata, Grandeur, Staria, Porter, Kia's K5, K8, Bongo 1t, Bongo 1.2t, and Renault's QM6 and QM6 Van.