Nobody likes a petrol price hike. It raises transport costs, and for some, affects the cost of generating power supply. But spare a thought for gig drivers, who deal with petrol economics daily.
In South Africa, petrol prices surged twice in December 2024 and January 2025, driven by high global oil prices and a weak rand. Gig drivers in South Africa now pay R21.59 ($1.14) per litre, with prices expected to rise again in February.
In response, MyBroadBand published an article exploring the cost-saving potential of switching to liquefied petroleum gas (autogas) vehicles. They found that a gig driver travelling 20,000 km per year could save R978.59 ($52) on fuel costs. However, the upfront cost of converting a petrol car to LPG is still a major barrier.
The situation in Nigeria is not much different. After petrol prices spiked from ₦145 to over ₦1,000 ($0.67) within eighteen months, gig drivers started looking into compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel. We’ve previously written about the growing support for CNG in Nigeria and the cost of converting a petrol car to CNG. It will cost between ₦750,000 ($486) and ₦2.5 million ($1,620) to retrofit CNG engines in your vehicle.
Compared to petrol, CNG costs ₦230 ($0.15) per litre. A gig driver with a Toyota Corolla travelling 20,000 km a year would spend ₦343,000 ($223) on CNG refuelling, while the same distance with petrol would cost ₦1.5 million ($968).
With the cheaper price of CNG, drivers can save even more as they travel longer distances.
However, what are the risks of these retrofitted cars? There’s no conclusive answer to this question. Without wider adoption, we cannot know how safe these retrofitted engines are.
