Economics

Propane makes sense. Propane offers the lowest overall life-cycle fuel costs to high consumption commercial fleets, while reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions and improving air quality.

Propane as a fleet transportation fuel is best suited to high consumption fleet vehicles that ideally are centrally fuelled and maintained. Fleets such as law enforcement vehicles, para-transit vehicles, school buses, couriers and urban delivery vehicles will benefit most from using propane as opposed to private vehicles.

Lower Life-Cycle Operating Costs – even after the cost of conversion.

On a consumption equivalent basis, propane is cheaper than conventional gasoline on a net fuel cost. The use of propane requires installation of conversion equipment to enable the vehicle to operate on propane. For a fleet operating on propane instead of gasoline, the fuel cost savings, will pay for the conversion cost within the first 12 months. The savings are even greater when compared to ethanol-blended gasoline since ethanol has less energy content than the gasoline it replaces. In relation to diesel fuel, a fleet can save on operating costs when the diesel engine premium and propane conversion costs are factored into the overall cost of operations.

Abundant Canadian Supply and Stable Pricing

Approximately 8.6 Billion litres or about 70% of Canada’s annual production of propane is exported due to a lack of domestic demand. This excess supply improves the stability of propane pricing over time. Typically, propane prices at the retail level do not display the day-to-day volatility seen in gasoline and diesel pricing.

Over the last 12 years the price of propane has been consistently over 40% lower than gasoline. It is anticipated that the gasoline market will remain volatile into the foreseeable future due to tight refining capacity in North America.