Pretoria brothers open gas refilling station for cars converted to run on LPG [PICS]

Load shedding inspired the Casillo brothers from Pretoria to not only open a drive-through gas refilling station, but also to look at cheaper, alternative ways to fuel cars.

Stargas director Fabio Casillo said Pretoria East was a good area for the gas station because there were many power issues there.

“People struggle to get liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) around here. We have a major gas supply in this country. We will never run out of this product, it’s the future,” he said.

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“We saw a gap in the market because fuel in South Africa is very expensive. Many guys have cars but have issues with fuel, so we wanted to bring a different product to the market that is cheaper to run the vehicle.”

Gas hybrids

Casillo said this saw cars converted to gas hybrids with the installation of an aftermarket kit.

“There is a cost to put it in, but once it’s driving on the road, it will save people a few thousand rands a month,” he said.

“A government initiative to roll out gas conversions on taxis failed because they didn’t have the infrastructure. So we are now reintroducing it, and all those 60-odd taxis that still have kits installed will be repaired and start the refuelling station.”

Stargas director Andrea Casillo said cars converted to gas have been around for a while in Cape Town, Durban and Centurion.

“What we are doing is bringing it to the fleets, to the Uber drivers and people who do serious mileage on their vehicles because that’s where the fuel savings come in.

“Anything between 40% to 50% fuel saving depending on the vehicle and how heavy of a driver they are,” he said.

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“It has been in Europe for many years. On that side of the world, vehicles come with it installed out of the factory.”

Casillo said an Uber driver who drives up to 5 000km a month could pay off his kit in about three months.

‘Massive help’ for Uber drivers

Director of Car Gas Conversions Mike Michaelides said this initiative was a massive help for Uber drivers.

“Any money they save goes into their pockets and not towards anything else,” he said.

Uber driver Sibusiso Lushaba has been using a vehicle with a conversion kit for the past five months.

“I drive a minimum of 6 000km and a maximum of 12 000km per month,” he said.

“It used to cost me about R1 200 for petrol a week or about R5 000 a month and now I use gas for R720 a week.

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“I haven’t touched the petrol in the car yet.”

Lushaba said the car’s performance wasn’t any different from petrol vehicles. Multiple cars have been through the new flagship LPG gas station in Pretoria East after it opened three weeks ago.

Motorists described it as convenient after waiting just 90 seconds to pick up a refilled gas bottle at the drive-through window.