The Polk County Sheriff’s Office began operating 10 vehicles that run on propane autogas in March of 2013 and hasn’t looked back since.
The switch came after the office needed a way to cut fuel costs without sacrificing reliability and performance, so they gravitated towards the logical choice of propane.
The sheriff’s office explained that their vehicles travel about 25,000 miles per year, so any change in their fuel costs would benefit them greatly. In this case, the switch to propane will save them about 20,000 dollars per year in fuel costs alone.
Further bolstering the case for a switch to propane is the long period of time between service maintenance a propane-fueled vehicle can travel. Since the fuel burns cleaner, the vehicles are able to travel 10,000 miles before they need to be serviced, further enhancing the potential for cost-saving.
The reliability of these 10 vehicles sealed propane’s place in the police department. Since the vehicles utilize the Bi-fuel Prins Vapor Sequential Injection (VSI) System, the car can revert immediately back to gas in case of unforeseen emergencies, or the propane tank running low. Additionally, retrofitting older cars with VSI is a relatively quick process, which leaves the possibility of further vehicle conversions in time.
Vehicles that have been switched are performing to expectations, and the police department hasn’t detected any problems with the system since the switch.
