Hyundai Motor is developing an LPG engine to revitalize the Porter LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) car that was sold out in 2003. The diesel engine is replaced with an LPG engine to cope with fine dust-strengthening movements. It will have a positive impact on the expansion of the LPG car market as Porter`s annual sales volume reaches 100,000 units.

According to the Ministry of Environment`s Eco-friendly Development Technology Project sources, Hyundai Motor will develop a fuel injection and post-treatment system for LPG direct injection (LPDi) 1 ton commercial truck by April 2019 as a national project. The key to this technology development is to reduce the amount of harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) by replacing light oil, which is the main fuel for 1 ton commercial truck, with LPG. The Ministry of Environment’s representative said, "A 1-ton truck accounts for about 67% of all trucks, and the mileage is more than 30% longer than passenger cars, and a diesel engine is installed.”

Hyundai Motors plans to increase its power performance, which is considered to be a disadvantage of the LPG engine. The Hyundai Motor Company released Porter LPG in 1996. However, the company discontinued it in June 2003, almost eight years later. An industry expert said, "The company had put the LPG engine on the market and put it on the market. However, due to technical limitations, the output was lower than the diesel engine and there was less demand." Direct injection method is applied to LPG engine in order to overcome this. Direct injection is an engine type which injects fuel directly into the cylinder and can increase the output. Originally, it was applied to diesel engines, but automakers are also commercializing it for petrol engines. Hyundai Motor GDi engine is representative.

Porter can be purchased by ordinary people even if the LPG engine is classified as a truck in the Automobile Management Act. LPG cars that ordinary people can buy are limited to vans, lorries, special cars, rental cars, light cars, hybrid cars, and used cars last five years under current law.

The development of LPG Porter is likely to lead to an increase in demand for LPG cars since Porter has been selling around 100,000 units annually in Korea since 2013. The number of domestic LPG car registrations peaked at 2.46 million units in 2010 and then dropped to 2,185,114 units last year. LPG expert said, "We cannot predict how much demand will be, but we are seeing a positive change in the variety of LPG cars.”

By Kim Yang Hyuk mj@


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