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Posts Tagged ‘alternative fuel vehicles’

Have you noticed how gas prices keep going through a yo-yo effect, but the trend just keeps getting more expensive. If you remember 2008, gas prices were on average at $3 a gallon at the beginning of the year and jumped to over $4.5 a gallon through the summer. The increases in gas prices was taking a big toll on many of my friends and families wallets. But not mine, I purchased a CNG Car (compressed natural gas) that not only saves a load of money (only an average of $0.75 a gallon equivalent through 2008) but is far and beyond a cleaner solution for the environment.

We took advantage of the great gas prices we could get while most everyone else was conserving or paying loads of money on their gas. During the summer of 2008 my husband and I took trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, Arches National Park, Utah, Los Angeles, California, Boise, Idaho and many others. Gas prices weren’t an issue because we were paying 3-4 times less for natural gas than regular gas. Plus, almost everywhere we went there were natural gas stations where we could fill up our CNG car. A good example of this is in the summer time we took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. From Provo, Utah to Las Vegas it is about 380 miles. With gas prices being around $3.75, this trip would have cost us $120.00. Instead of paying that price, we took our natural gas car with the natural gas price being $0.87 gallon equivalent, and the trip cost us $30.00. We could spend money in Vegas and have some fun instead of spending money on gas to get there.

Both my husband and I were students during the fall of 2008. I was doing my student teaching and my husband was attending classes and working on a business he was getting started. Because of this our monthly income was very low, but because of our CNG car we were able to save a bunch of money every month using our alternative fuel.

As everyone else griped and groaned about the outrageous gas prices I was celebrating my 79 cent gallon equivalent gas prices. Plus, with 2 easily accessible gas stations on my commute, it was easy to keep a full tank of gas. Instead of paying $200 a month for gas we were paying $40, which came in really nice considering our circumstances.

If I was to answer my smartest purchase over the last few years it would definitely be my CNG car. It saves money, especially when I needed it most, and it has helped keep our planet a little cheaper. Not to mention that it is a domestic alternative fuel, that we don’t have to rely on other countries for. It constantly perplexes me why more people don’t invest in CNG cars like we did. But I guess until more people catch on, I’ll just keep saving a lot of money at the pump.

I’ve owned a CNG car for a couple years now, my husband’s family has owned them for much longer. There are many ways to go about purchasing a CNG car. There are used and new cars, you can also get your current car converted (costs around $6K). Also, hitting the alternative fuel market soon is the American Roadster, it get 70 mpg and runs on CNG. Reserve it soon though.