Dwindling re-fill stations

jobla

jobla

Joined
Feb 3, 2019
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Washington
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58,355
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I have noticed lately that the major oil companies are taking a close look at their involvement in the Autogas market. Shell for one have withdrawn completely. Who will be next. I know that there are still a good number of available outlets but how long is this going to last.
Got me thinking about owners of mainly PVC's that have underslung tanks fitted from new to help the manufacturers maximise internal space in the van. What do these guys (or gals) do if autogas becomes scarce. They are going to need a dedicated space to be provided in the van which will have to adhere to stringent safety rules so the can revert to cylinders. I could imagine this involving a fair bit of ingenuity in some cases and no doubt a hefty bill. Maybe its time for the converters to start mounting the bottle/s onboard again.

jobla
 
This has been discussed a lot here. There are still plenty around. We have 4 within 10 mins drive in manchester and 2 in javea with 10 mins drive.

I think if you are travelling, you will usually find something. We never have problems with our motorhome or LPG car.
 
It is going to become a pain in the wotsit. It already is. I had a station 1 mile from home, now gone in the last couple of months. Next nearest is about 6 miles, it was out of service last weekend, fixed midweek, and already broken again. Next nearest as I work round surrey and I'm starting to really clock up the miles, about 20 and that has just been reported as out of service, or I start perhaps going towards Hampshire and hope the Fleet services havent got rid .....

Probably less of an issue for some European countries where LPG vehicles had a higher take up but in the UK LPG motive power was always niche. Motorhomers don't justify forecourt pumps - I think the most I've even managed, even with the tank saying it was empty was under £10 (odd if I have a 25litre tank based on the manufacturer spec)

For future vehicles, the manufacturers will need to look away from LPG use if they haven't got space in the vehicle to revert to old style expensive bottles. But in the smaller vans, alternatives could also be an issue. How big a battery bank would you need to power that fridge? Do we try diesel for heating and cooking, until that too is phased out?

For existing vehicles there is a real quandry. You can get adaptor hoses so you could put a gas bottle to the LPG inlet so effectively your on board system now runs gas vapour rather than LPG in the onboard tank. But where do you store that portable bottle whilst driving along and how do you stop someone nicking it once on site.
 
AFAIK, an adaptor is available to feed my underslung Gas-It tank from an external Calor bottle (not fill), so in the worst case scenario, I'll just carry an unconnected bottle in my garage.

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LesW said:
Why do people worry about LPG outlets being nearby (or not).

Surely if you travel about in your vehicle, outlets can be found elsewhere.
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Probably because even if you travel, the number of working outlets is reducing.

I will often go to New Forest from Surrey, over 70 miles, a fair distance I'd have thought. Of the LPG stations that were sort of en-route without a massive detour in time and diesel:
Addlestone 1 mile - removed
Cobham 7 miles in wrong direction - out of service
Fleet 2 mile Diversion off M3 - out of service, possibly removed
M3 Services fleet - currently reported as working
Winchester, wrong side of M3 - weekday working hours only so not suitable
Soling Southampton - 3 motorway junctions in wrong direction - probably working
Ower just off M27 - not in service.

Currently I have one chance of a fill without having to start going off track and incurring a lot of time and diesel in the hope pumps will be working.

BTW I am currently empty and need to fill, I actually tried on my way home last weekend, about 50 miles and nothing remotely on route coming back from near Goodwood towards A3 and Guildford, with that Cobham garage which was shown as online proved to be out of service on arrival
 
Kannon Fodda said:
Probably because even if you travel, the number of working outlets is reducing.

I will often go to New Forest from Surrey, over 70 miles, a fair distance I'd have thought. Of the LPG stations that were sort of en-route without a massive detour in time and diesel:
Addlestone 1 mile - removed
Cobham 7 miles in wrong direction - out of service
Fleet 2 mile Diversion off M3 - out of service, possibly removed
M3 Services fleet - currently reported as working
Winchester, wrong side of M3 - weekday working hours only so not suitable
Soling Southampton - 3 motorway junctions in wrong direction - probably working
Ower just off M27 - not in service.

Currently I have one chance of a fill without having to start going off track and incurring a lot of time and diesel in the hope pumps will be working.

BTW I am currently empty and need to fill, I actually tried on my way home last weekend, about 50 miles and nothing remotely on route coming back from near Goodwood towards A3 and Guildford, with that Cobham garage which was shown as online proved to be out of service on arrival
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I’ve a feeling the reduction in LPG outlets is a southern thing. We actually have one more than we did a year ago. Why? I don’t know but certainly no shortage around here.
 
glenn2926 said:
I’ve a feeling the reduction in LPG outlets is a southern thing. We actually have one more than we did a year ago. Why? I don’t know but certainly no shortage around here.
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Nope, plenty in the south east I rember everyone going on about BP taking out LPG pumps 2 near us have put in new pumps.

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Ask your local taxi drivers if they are LPG powered and if so where do they get their fill from, Several industrial sites have lpg for LPG fork lifts worth asking around, it is a shame that card payment self service machines are not installed on major routes as per the odd diesel and petrol ones on the NC500 they may eventually cover their installation costs, Which is the issue as each top up is around only £10 so not worth an an attendant connecting you up, standing there whilst filling, then back to the till to process the payment, this was from the mouths of several small garage owners whilst up north for a five week tour last year search whilst fruitlessly searching for LPG.
 
Same old same old it seems most people on here think the onky place you can purchase lpg is garage forecourts. As i have said before search out independent suppliers who service lpg car market and static caravan sites. We have CHESHIRE gas in stockport 0.62 ltr yesterday.
 
Lenny HB said:
Nope, plenty in the south east I rember everyone going on about BP taking out LPG pumps 2 near us have put in new pumps.
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these are not coming up on my LPG app. Have you the locations? We have had closed Fontwell, Patcham, Bolney,A24/272 junction, Pease Pottage. Nearest locally seems to be Polgate.
 
Fontwell closed after the fire.
Pease Pottage is still open last report on FillLpg is 27/4/21
Patcham last report on 16/4/21.

The ones I use are:-
Morrisons Littlehampton.
BP Patcham juction of A27/A23.
BP Golden Cross on the A22.

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Thanks Lenny we posted at the same time!
We use Morrison’s Littlehampton.
we are away in the MH this weekend and are going to try Pease Pottage on the way home.
 
The Cruisers said:
We are on south coast in West Sussex, where are the 2 new BPs with LPG Lenny?
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Not new just replaced the pumps with new ones which shows they aren't stopping it, the ones I mention in the other post, A23/A27 junction & Golden Cross on the A22.
 
Lenny HB said:
I don't think it's going to be a problem for many years not worth worrying about.
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That's right. The supply will shrink until it is in balance with the demand. There will be a demand for a good few years yet.

I said this in other threads, but the example is here on the isle of man. We only have one lpg point. Their biggest trade is motorhomes and they are happy with the market. That's 1 per 80,000 people. That would mean that 1000 outlets in the UK should be sustainable just supplying motorhomes.

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Kannon Fodda said:
Probably because even if you travel, the number of working outlets is reducing.

I will often go to New Forest from Surrey, over 70 miles, a fair distance I'd have thought. Of the LPG stations that were sort of en-route without a massive detour in time and diesel:
Addlestone 1 mile - removed
Cobham 7 miles in wrong direction - out of service
Fleet 2 mile Diversion off M3 - out of service, possibly removed
M3 Services fleet - currently reported as working
Winchester, wrong side of M3 - weekday working hours only so not suitable
Soling Southampton - 3 motorway junctions in wrong direction - probably working
Ower just off M27 - not in service.

Currently I have one chance of a fill without having to start going off track and incurring a lot of time and diesel in the hope pumps will be working.

BTW I am currently empty and need to fill, I actually tried on my way home last weekend, about 50 miles and nothing remotely on route coming back from near Goodwood towards A3 and Guildford, with that Cobham garage which was shown as online proved to be out of service on arrival
Click to expand...
There is one showing in Birdham just a few miles from Chichester, was going to try that but as we are in Longleat managed to fill at Stonehenge Service Station on the way up.
 
LesW said:
Why do people worry about LPG outlets being nearby (or not).

Surely if you travel about in your vehicle, outlets can be found elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Because may be they want to save the environment and not waste fuel driving miles out of the way to get gas, just a thought.
 
Ivory55 said:
Because may be they want to save the environment and not waste fuel driving miles out of the way to get gas, just a thought.
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I’m not sure you understood the point being made. The poster merely suggested getting LPG as you travel around. Not suggesting in any way that one travels miles off their intended route. If one does not have access to LPG locally then fill up as they travel. Simple really.

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Only once ever gone out of our way that was when there was an LPG shortage a couple of years ago.
Our main trips are 2000-3000 miles never found a problem filling up on route. :rofl:
 
The Cruisers said:
Thanks Lenny we posted at the same time!
We use Morrison’s Littlehampton.
we are away in the MH this weekend and are going to try Pease Pottage on the way home.
Click to expand...
Peas Pottage shows up as 'temporarily out of order' as does as does Patcham the junction 24/272 is not showing. Looks like littlehampton which is a pain for us.
 
Coastal Cruiser. said:
There is one showing in Birdham just a few miles from Chichester, was going to try that but as we are in Longleat managed to fill at Stonehenge Service Station on the way up.
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be interested to know if this is still selling it after Fontwells fire
 
As has been said before, if a car manufacturer such as Dacia has started to sell LPG driven cars then there must be a lot of confidence in their being a supply of LPG.
Also, there is a profitable market in selling LPG as there is a need for it so I can't see any likelihood of supply coming to an end.
 
pandas said:
Peas Pottage shows up as 'temporarily out of order' as does as does Patcham the junction 24/272 is not showing. Looks like littlehampton which is a pain for us.
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Have you tried ringing them as both had recent reports on Filllpg?

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