Hybrid cars are the most talked about when it comes to saving fuel. However they only start looking attractive if you do a lot of mileage.
Diesel is the best option I believe. In Europe where there are no fuel subsidies, diesel cars outnumber petrol cars. New diesel technology is very fuel-efficient and also costs less to maintain however these high technology diesel engines need high quality diesel to operate and this is where we lose out.
NGV is not new and has been around for some years now. However with only a small number of stations in the country providing the service, only some fleet vans and city taxis have been actively using NGV. They have been subjected to long queues and also scattered service. Since the fuel rise, many new NGV installers have cropped up and if you are hell bent on following this direction then let me enlighten you on the cost. You have 3 sizes of NGV tanks. A 55-liter, 63-liter and a 65-liter. The small tank is for small sedans and so on. They cost about RM5,850, RM5,950 and RM6,300 to install. Savings are big and you can recoup your investment in a few years if you are an average driver and in a year if you a taxi driver doing heavy mileage. Running a NGV system is about RM0.12cents per km for a 1.5 to a 1.6-liter sedan. RM0.15cents per km for a 2-liter sedan and just RM0.18 cents per km for a 2.4-litre sedan (based on interviews with NGV vehicle owners). Further savings from running a NGV car is the reduction in road tax by 25% for a petrol or diesel vehicle running on NGV.
