Dacia is the only car manufacturer to offer bi-fuel, gasoline, and LPG engines, ECO-G100, across its entire range, and has just announced that it has sold 1 million LPG vehicles since 2010. This increasingly appealing solution has been available in Portugal since the 1980s, where Dacia continues to be the brand that invests the most in bi-fuel engines, gasoline, and LPG.
The bi-fuel system, which was renamed ECO-G100 in 2020, provides up to 170 Nm of torque from 2000 rpm. Additionally, the ECO-G100 power unit is more powerful than the gasoline version (with an extra 10 hp and 10 Nm), consumes 10% less, and emits 10% less CO2.
Currently, Dacia’s LPG option is part of its Sandero, Sandero Stepway, Duster, and also the Jogger models. The decision to increase the number of vehicles with bi-fuel technology is justified by the significant price difference of LPG, which is considerably more economical than gasoline, with a difference of about 55%. According to the brand, this can translate into significant savings on a 50-liter tank.
The advantages of GPL go beyond just fuel costs, as Dacia has indicated that the CO2 emissions are also reduced by 10%, operating noise decreases by 50%, and the maintenance expenses for a bi-fuel technology model, as announced by Dacia, are 30% lower than those of a traditional fuel model.
Dacia models are designed and built to operate on GPL, and the tank is located in the compartment where the spare wheel is found in other cars, so it does not take up space in the gasoline tank or the trunk.
For the driver, the management of the bi-fuel technology is carried out inside the vehicle, where autonomy indicators for each tank are available, integrated into the instrument panel. Furthermore, the driver can choose to select the desired fuel for driving through a simple button, or automatically switch when the current tank runs out, preventing the vehicle from stalling.
In Portugal, Dacia is the undisputed sales leader in the segment of Bi-Fuel (LPG+Gasoline) vehicles, with the ECO-G 100 Bi-Fuel engine accounting for over 65% of total sales: 65% of the Sandero, 90% of the Jogger, and 70% of the new Duster.