BP stopping Autogas

[stevejs]

It looks like BP have made the decision to stop selling Autogas at all of their filling stations. Their policy seems to be to remove the LPG pumps from each station on the next planned refurbishment. As BP own so many filling stations this will make a significant impact on the distance many LPG users have to drive to filll up and will spoil the coverage on the motorway network.

As a strong supporter of LPG cars for 15 years i now wonder if this will be my last LPG vehicle?

Has anybody got any more information on BP's or other oil company's plans for the future of LPG on the forecourt?

[LairdScooby]

That's extremely bad news for me as a loyal BP customer. Not to mention the fact that with one exception about 25 miles from me (Calor Gas) the only places in my neck of the woods to buy LPG are in fact BP stations.

There are 2 Esso (one literally just reopened after refurb over xmas) and one Shell station (new just before xmas) and a BP (no LPG at this one though) within about a 6-7 mile journey for me and none of them sell LPG so i have to go between 12-16 miles for my nearest fill up.

It will almost make it unviable for me to convert my little fleet as unless i'm going somewhere further afield, it will necessitate a special trip just to fill up with LPG and that would use a gallon each way at least.

[Talkingcars]

I've had a quick look on their website, I struggle to find anything about autogas.

Is it worth approaching them and asking the question?

[LairdScooby]

I've had a quick look on their website, I struggle to find anything about autogas.

Is it worth approaching them and asking the question?

I'd say so - not sure whether it would be best to approach them on an individual basis or whether to ask one of the moderators and/or installers on here to speak for the "forum community" as a whole.

My first thought when i read your post was "No but i bet it would be worth approaching them and TELLING them they have to continue providing it". Obviously that's a bit tongue in cheek but as the old saying goes, many a true word spoken in jest so perhaps a petition to enforce whatever approach we make, either individually or as a forum.

What do you think?


***EDIT***

I found the email address for the Service Station enguiries :

Service station enquiries

For comments or complaints about our service stations and retail outlets in the UK, please contact us via careline@bp.com

I also decided to take the bull by the horns and send an email. It is on an individual basis but could be reinforced by others doing similar and possibly if one of the admins/moderators/installers on here could send an email as a representation from the forum that would add more weight.
Here's a copy of the body of my email, by no means do i suggest it's ideal and some points are perhaps unnecessary but i'm sure it could be adapted to individual circumstances :

Dear Sir/Madam,

i've heard a nasty rumour that LPG/Autogas is going to be phased out by BP as and when filling stations are refurbished. Could you confirm this or deny it please?

If it is going to be phased out, i would like to register my protest even though i'm a relatively recent (7 months and counting) convert to LPG and so far, apart from once i have filled up at BP stations. I hold a Nectar card and use it whenever i fill up. In addition to my LPG vehicle, i have two "modern classic" Rover 827s that i run exclusively on Ultimate Unleaded although i have plans to add LPG to both of them.

The loss of LPG from your forecourts would not only be a great inconvenience to me but to many others who run LPG powered vehicles and seems a very short-sighted business model, especially when LPG is becoming more popular.

I hope and trust this is only a rumour and in all honesty would welcome the addition of LPG pumps as and when stations are refurbished.
In my area, two Esso stations were recently refurbished (one literally just reopened) and a new Shell station has opened - none of these have LPG so in my area the only outlets with LPG are in fact BP stations. My nearest station is London Rd, Brandon, Suffolk although that doesn't currently have LPG but gives you an idea where my nearest LPG supplying stations are.

Hopefully this presents a case for keeping LPG, albeit on an individual level. However i'm sure there are many others out there who feel the same.

I look forward to your early response!

Yours Sincerely

Like i said, probably not perfect but hopefully they will take notice!

[Brian_H]

Its their own company run fuel stations - Generally the ones with the M&S food shops attached and the expensive pump prices.

Any of the ones operated by Malthurst under BP branding are not affected (also known as MRH or Hursts - Will have notices about not accepting bp fuel cards for lpg as its supplied by Flogas and generally do the accumulator card as well)
Any of the other franchised outlets are not directly affected by it either, although given the price some ask I can't imagine they sell very much anyway

Lots have already gone - The two on the A406 both went some time ago, the area i've noticed with the biggest impact is south London, there is very few stations left there now.

Shell/Autogas appear to be working the other way - cheaper prices, and getting some of their stations that haven't worked back again (the one in lower kingswood being a good example - BP removed their pump around october last year, the texaco on the other side hasn't had a working pump in ages - they now have it working again).

With the current trend on the oil price its hardly surprising, annoying as it may be.

I did ask them some time back about this as I'd noticed a number disappear - the response can be seen here

http://filllpg.ideascale.com/a/dtd/BP-S ... 12224-9733

I think I've deleted at least 30 stations on filllpg where pumps that were present have gone in the last year, The majority of them are bp (only other one i can remember is the station that was at Gravelley park who was moaning about the guys at Birmingham Autogas undercutting him when hes running a forecourt - Seemed he was overlooking that putting the pump outside of the canopy so you still get wet and only opening till mid evening didn't make it a hard decision to make - 60p or 40p!.

I'd suggest making it clear that you will avoid their forecourts in future for any other purchases you might have made - they apparently make more out of the shop sales, and even if they pay no attention at least you know they are losing out on it as well (i deliberately avoid them now, though i rarely used them for autogas anyway as they were always noticeably more expensive than Shell - hence they lose money on providing it as they price it too high and put people off!).

Its not a case of being done with refurbishments - Many have just taken the pump away and replaced it with a metal post (the ones at Warwick services when removed just initially had a bin ontop of the point the pumps were at - though given how much of a dump that particular station is how they could have the cheek to ask 79.9 only a couple of months ago is beyond me!).

[Brian_H]

I've also noticed a fair number of the Applegreen sites appear to be shown as unavailable on filllpg - the one at Ilkeston was still there when i was there last, as was the one at Chatteris, but both are out of use and station wasn't sure if it was coming back or not when asked.

[LairdScooby]

As i said in my email to them, it seems to be a very short sighted business model.

[Gilbertd]

The other thing is that although they may not sell as much LPG as petrol or diesel, they have a much higher profit margin on it. My local Flogas is down to 48p but are only open until 4:30 in the afternoon and only on Saturday mornings at the weekend. A Flogas supplied Texaco a couple of miles away is open 24 hours, 7 days a week and charges 53.9p. So that's 6p a litre difference and I somehow doubt that the Texaco station is paying the same price for a huge tank full at a time than the average punter going in for 40 or 60 litres at a time. Then there's also the environmental benefits that can be pointed out to them. With the bad press that diesel has had in the last few months, a petrol car converted to run on LPG is the same or slightly cheaper to run than a diesel but with slightly lower emissions than petrol and far lower than diesel can only encourage more people to convert and that is more custom that they are going to lose out on.

[Brian_H]

I know the new station you mean by the shell one - Its the one near the Fiveways roundabout on the A11. Out of all the options you've got you might have more luck approaching Shell about it, though possibly more luck when they were building it rather than after its finished!. Looks like your closest station is the Harvest one in Thetford (the BP that had lpg in Thetford doesn't have it anymore).

Its less of an issue for me as theres 3 stations (was 4) locally to me, two of them shell. But I've noticed a fair number I used to drive past and rarely if ever filled up at have gone.

The shell at Broughton though has been refurbished with all new petrol/diesel pumps and the lpg pump put back in service afterwards. Though for some reason they have moved it and actually positioned it in a worse position than it originally had so you now block two regular fuel pumps when lined up with it!.

The interesting thing though is to see some of the more recent stations that have gained lpg - the ones that come to mind are the new services at Cobham and the Cornish Gateway ones. Both new sites and both with lpg on the same pump as the rest of the fuels. Suggests they think its here to stay for some time yet. Though with the current trend in fuel prices its very hard to tell.

[LairdScooby]

That's the Shell one right enough. The BP on Norwich Road in Thetford still has LPG despite BP not even acknowledging the existence of the station! I think the Harvest one is actually on the A11 northbound between the first roundabout (halfway up a hill!) as you reach Thetford going north up the A11 and the next one.

It's a toss up between Thetford and Ely (Witchford Rd as i think BP list it as) or Newmarket Services for my nearest BP LPG or Calor Gas in BSE although there is a boat chandlers in Littleport that is rumoured to have LPG as well.

As an aside, the Thetford BP (Norwich Rd) is the one where i've "overfilled" and only got about 10-12mpg and i now won't use for that reason.

[Brian_H]

That's the Shell one right enough. The BP on Norwich Road in Thetford still has LPG despite BP not even acknowledging the existence of the station! I think the Harvest one is actually on the A11 northbound between the first roundabout (halfway up a hill!) as you reach Thetford going north up the A11 and the next one.

It's a toss up between Thetford and Ely (Witchford Rd as i think BP list it as) or Newmarket Services for my nearest BP LPG or Calor Gas in BSE although there is a boat chandlers in Littleport that is rumoured to have LPG as well.

As an aside, the Thetford BP (Norwich Rd) is the one where i've "overfilled" and only got about 10-12mpg and i now won't use for that reason.

That one on Norwich rd (Known as "BP Icknield Way Connect") doesn't have lpg anymore - or at least I couldn't see any sign of the pump when i went past that way! - have checked streetview definietly isn't there anymore.

The Harvest one is on the A134 - here > http://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page ... ionid=1505

I'd also suspect that one if not both of the ones at Newmarket will disappear before too long (the one going eastbound has been out of order on the last few times I've gone past that way), though Harvest should be closer anyway.

[LairdScooby]

Not sure if this will work Brian but zoom in and you can clearly see the Autogas pump partly hiding a dark grey estate :

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/BP/ ... !1e1?hl=en

According to the tags along the bottom, the "Image Capture Jul2014" puts it about 18 months ago. That's the pump i've filled up from 2 or 3 times in the past 6 months though and had the apparent over-filling mentioned elsewhere.

I didn't know the Harvest one was there to be honest, perhaps i've searched for it and because it didn't have LPG listed i ignored and forgot about it.

The eastbound BP is one i rarely visit as it's on the homeward leg of any journey and i tend to fill up on the outbound leg, hence the westbound A14 Newmarket services tends to be the one i use. I know when i've used the Witchford Rd, Ely station i've often had to wait to get there as people are using it. Sometimes i've had to wait as there is a diesel pump next to it and a lot of vans use that as it is set slightly further away from the pump behind than normal, presumably to allow van drivers to fill up without inconveniencing car drivers.

Regardless of all that, BP are definitely cutting their own throat by losing LPG pumps. I still haven't had a reply to my email either for what it's worth!

[Brian_H]

I've been there within the last 3 months its gone from where you could see it on street view above

Most of the lpg station locators except for Richards's one (filllpg) are inaccurate. Certainly bps one is hopeless locally it shows one station that has never had it. And at last look several that do have it still aren't shown as well

[LairdScooby]

I've been there within the last 3 months its gone from where you could see it on street view above

Most of the lpg station locators except for Richards's one (filllpg) are inaccurate. Certainly bps one is hopeless locally it shows one station that has never had it. And at last look several that do have it still aren't shown as well

That's bad news that it's gone, it was handy in emergencies!

Have to agree with BPs stations locator, it's not that great even for normal petrol/diesel stations!

[Brian_H]

Yep - when the price disappears off the forecourt sign it seems to be the early warning. The link does work fine btw. Not much difference distance wise for you to the harvest station though, and it was usually cheaper anyway!

[LairdScooby]

I'll give the Harvest Station a go Brian - thanks! After several months of grief with the LPG system (vapouriser icing) and also the heater, temperature gauge and a few other things, i've finally got them sorted today so would be good to find a nearby station that i can use to start working out the consumption properly!

Hopefully it will keep its LPG pump long enough for me to work it out!

[Brian_H]

I'll give the Harvest Station a go Brian - thanks! After several months of grief with the LPG system (vapouriser icing) and also the heater, temperature gauge and a few other things, i've finally got them sorted today so would be good to find a nearby station that i can use to start working out the consumption properly!

Hopefully it will keep its LPG pump long enough for me to work it out!

No problem - I regually end up driving up the A11 with work and know the availability is somewhat sparse up that way. If theres any other stations you know of round that way update filllpg with them please!

[LairdScooby]

Will do but i'm still finding them! For example, i didn't know that the Jet garage at Broomhill (just north of Downham Market) has LPG. I used to go past that at least twice a day (but that was nearly 30 years ago!) but can't remember the last time i was there now. Half the trouble is it's about half a mile from the A10 so tends to get bypassed.
Although not exactly local to me it's handy to know it's there.

If i do find any more i will of course update filllpg - i had in fact forgotten i was even registered on there until i tried to register!

[Brian_H]

Will do but i'm still finding them! For example, i didn't know that the Jet garage at Broomhill (just north of Downham Market) has LPG. I used to go past that at least twice a day (but that was nearly 30 years ago!) but can't remember the last time i was there now. Half the trouble is it's about half a mile from the A10 so tends to get bypassed.
Although not exactly local to me it's handy to know it's there.

If i do find any more i will of course update filllpg - i had in fact forgotten i was even registered on there until i tried to register!

Alot of the places doing lpg seem to be slightly off the beaten track so to speak, does help knowing where they are. But the mobile app helps with that as well if you've got a compatible phone (and allows updating prices of course while your there).

I've found a few places up in East Anglia that weren't on filllpg - theres a few ex-petrol stations that still do lpg even after they stopped doing unleaded/diesel up your way as well.

[LairdScooby]

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled! At the moment i tend to fill up once (sometimes twice) a month and then on an outbound journey so i know i'm ok there and back. After that i just keep an eye on it and when it begins to look low i either wait a bit and hope (but make sure there's petrol in the tank in case!) or fill up again.