2007-2008 GMC Sierra photographed in College Park, Maryland, USA. Category:GMT902 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First of all, let’s look at how much a standard Silverado HD goes for, about $40,000 dollars.  These trucks are usually 6.0 liter V8 powered monsters that come in long and short bed options.  The average price per gallon of CNG is about $1.89 nationwide.  This means that in three years you can save up to $10,000 in fuel by using CNG.  This means that you CNG option will pay for itself in a little over 3 years.  What most people don’t know is that CNG is much cleaner burning that it’s competitor gasoline.  Better and cleaner burning fuel means that most CNG cars see engine life of 500,000 to a million miles before they give out.  This is significantly longer that that of pure gasoline engines.  With this type of perspective, it’s easy to see that the CNG option will pay for itself several times over as you will be able to get much more life out of your new GMC Sierra or Chevy Silverado with the CNG option.

GM will start taking orders for these CNG trucks starting April 19, 2012 and will start delivering them by the end of 2012.

Mark P. Frissora, Hertz Chairman said “Hertz is committed to providing our customers with a full spectrum of vehicle options to suit their rental needs including clean emission vehicles such as CNG, electric vehicles, as well as other fuel-efficient vehicles included in our Green Traveler Collection. As more low emission, fuel efficient vehicles become available for general use we will continue to expand our rental fleet, reflecting our dedication to offering sustainable travel options.”

Logo of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While CNG is a cleaner burning fuel and emits up to 30% less carbon dioxide and up to 75% less carbon monoxide, it is refreshing to see the first rental corporation in America take a bold step in offering these alternative fuel vehicles to the public.  The more rental companies that jump on board, the sooner mainstream Americans will wake up to the fact that CNG cars are nothing new, but have in fact been around since the early 70′s.  With the fuel being much less than half of the cost of regualr gasoline, the hope is that more people will push for Natural Gas infrastructure and help our country to wean off of foreign oil.

Hertz’s actions are not only commendable, but they are also taking a stance of leadership in an industry so dominated by gas guzzling cars and trucks.  For now, Hertz is the only rental fleet offering these vehicles in limited numbers and locations, but hopefully soon we will see a large spike of CNG rental car availability throughout the continental US.

At the Marcellus Midstream Conference, several executives sold the idea of fracking in order to release the natural gas being harbored within the borders of our own country.  By making Natural gas more plentiful to the public, it would force automakers to see that there is indeed a real and viable market for CNG cars.  Domestic automakers in Detroit have officially announced that they will once again manufacture CNG cars in the USA within the coming years.  While this is a step in the right direction, the biggest challenge to rolling out CNG cars is the limited number of stations that offer CNG pumps.  By encouraging natural gas production, it would force gas stations to offer this type of fuel to help the CNG car market get going.

Compressed Natural Gas (Photo credit: modenadude)

It is important to note that CNG vehicles have been around since the late 1970′s, but supply and demand are the main things to blame for why this technology has not gone mainstream.  The only way to get this technology into the garage’s of the average American is by making this resource easily accessible so that consumers can easily fill up their CNG car.  While we are a ways off from any type of energy independence in this country, this report is a very good indication that our country is heading in the right direction, despite the fact there there is nothing that can be done to alleviate the current oil crisis.

This equated to a fall in prices of about 3 cents, and has fallen 27 percent this year alone from last year’s prices.  Crude oil on the other hand reached $107 a barrel today and the tensions around IRAN and the U.S.A. are continuing to hit the rumor mill.

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What has helped natural gas prices to lower?  The biggest reason is that production is booming because more companies are getting smarter and using natural gas as a resource.  In fact, there is an over abundance of natural gas in our nations reserves, so the price is being lowered to help to sell it off to bring it to more normal levels.  Sounds crazy right?!  If only we had this problem with crude oil.

The national average today for a gallon of gas is at $3.75 per gallon, and is about 28 cents more than it was merely a month ago.  With no stopping in site, its safe to say that this summer, most of us will run out of money in our wallets and get stalled on the middle of  the freeway so to speak.

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Here we go again, the recent conflict in Iran has raised the price of crude oil to it’s highest levels since April of 2011.  The fears stem from the belief that Iran might halt shipments of oil to Europe.  As of Wednesday, the price for a barrel of crude oil rose to $119.53 per barrel after reports that the Iranian government would suspend shipments of oil to over 5 European countries.  To make matters worse, Iraq is also jumping on the band wagon as they are also threatening the stopping of shipments of oil as well.  So what does this recent news mean to us here in the United States?

Basically it means that gas could very well be over$5.00 a gallon this upcoming summer of 2012.  While this may sound ridiculous, it is definitely real and will put a huge strain on the pockets of every day Americans.  The only way to combat the dynamically changing prices of oil are to supplement them by having a vehicle that can run off of an alternative fuel source, such as compressed natural gas(CNG).  CNG cars are selling like hotcakes right now, and definitely will be moving like crazy off of the shelves this summer when gasoline prices assuredly begin to spike.  While the rest of the nation pays over $5.00 a gallon for gas, those with CNG cars will be paying closer to $.94 cents to a dollar for a gallon of CNG fuel.  These cost savings definitely make the purchasing of a CNG kit well worth it, and the kit will most likely pay for itself within the very first summer of 2012 if you were to install one now.

If you are interested in CNG kits for your car, make sure to check out the other posts within our website regarding CNG kits and which ones we would recommend.  Always make sure to have an authorized and certified installer install the kit.  The beauty of a CNG car is that you can run it off of CNG or gasoline.  For this reason, CNG cars are extremely popular these days and have a lot of merit as they are so easy to operate as they use two different fuel sources.

If you have thought at all about buying a CNG car, now is the time as you can bet on high fuel prices that will most assuredly make it almost impossible to travel if you have to pay for gasoline.

Not All CNG Cars Are The Same

A very common misconception that many customers have is that all CNG cars are the same.  The reason people believe this is because most vehicles are the same in that they all have an engine and run off of gas.  The difference with a CNG car is that it can either ONLY run on CNG, or it is a CNG hybrid that has had a kit installed which allows you to flip a switch and run the vehicle off of unleaded gasoline, or CNG(compressed natural gas).  The biggest difference to understand is that cars that only run on CNG are factory made, meaning they came that way out of the factory doors.  These cars usually experience less problems because they were manufactured only to run on the cleaner burning CNG fuel.

CNG cars that have an add-on kit installed are very nice as you can use both fuel types, but because they are an add-on, there is additional risk that things could go wrong or that problems could ensue.  This is very important to understand when looking at CNG cars for purchase as all states will accept a manufactured CNG car to meet their safety and emmissions standards, but hardly any states will approve a CNG add-on kit car.

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Do Your Research

The biggest problem that consumer experience when buying a CNG car is that they can’t get it passed off each year with safety and emmissions, making the car illegal to drive.  Make sure to do your research and find out if your state allows CNG car kits.  If not, you need to buy a manufacturer made CNG car.  Honda is the only known car maker that continues to make CNG vehicles.  All other car makers stopped making CNG cars back in 2004 as the Flex-Fuel vehicles became the new standard to meet the government imposed alternative fuel legislation.  The problem is that Flex-Fuel is completely impractical, so finding a CNG SUV, car, or Van can be tricky as they are much harder to come by these days.

CNG Does Make Your Car Last Longer

CNG cars do last longer than their gasoline counterparts.  The main reason is because CNG burns much cleaner than gasoline.  In fact, most cars that run off of CNG fuel can easily go 500,000 miles to a million miles before the engine gives out.  This is drastically higher than the maximum mileage of a gasoline car, so by having a CNG car, it will definitely pay for itself in savings.

As you can see, there are some factors to consider, so make sure you thing about these things when asking the question “Which CNG car should I buy?”

With the occupy wall street movement happening right now, we could probably create an “occupy oil companies” campaign that would also bring some attention to this issue.  While i’m not advocating a public movement, I do however want to voice a very common frustration that there must be a better way to save money and also be able to drive a vehicle.

While the answer to this solution may be compressed natural gas(CNG), there are some hurdles that need to be solved first before people can start saving money.

The first big hurdle is that of CNG accessibility.  With the oil companies grasp on the market, CNG stations are far and in between.  Some states are better than 0thers, such as Utah for example, but the fact is the natural gas stations need to be more prevalent in order to start making a difference.

While CNG cars are a fairly new concept to people, the truth is that they have been a part of our on-road fleets since the 70′s.  Not only have these types of vehicles existed for a while, but here in the USA, all of the natural gas that we use is made right here.

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With Obama’s jobs plan hitting the fan, why not bring jobs back to america by focusing our energy needs on natural gas?  Natural gas wells actually fill back up over time, it is a renewable resource.  Oil is not.  Not only is CNG just seeping out of the ground, it is actually a much cleaner burning fuel, which means that cars can easily go 500,000 miles running on CNG.  This many miles takes a miracle for cars to achieve when running off of gasoline.  The focus needs to be taken off of foreign oil issues, and moved to being able to capture the gas that is just naturally seeping out of the ground all around us.  When this happens, Americans will finally be able to start taking control again of their own economy as it won’t be so dependent on that of a foreign economy.

CNG vehicles are for sale all over the country, but before you buy one, it is a good idea to be able to assess your natural gas station accessibility before taking the plunge.  The only way to get more CNG stations in your area is by contacting your local transportation agency as well as your local government leaders.  The Pickins plan is something that has been trying to do this for years.  The biggest difference is that the Pickens plan is trying to convert America’s fleet of semi’s to run off of natural gas.  This would help out everyone as more stations would definitely be more available.   The convenience of Natural Gas is a no-brainier as you could fill up from home amongst other things.  CNG is real, and it can save you a lot of money, it just needs to be a practical choice for you in your area.  By doing some research, you should be able to determine if owning a CNG car is the right thing to do.

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With all of the upset going on over in Libya, and the gas prices here in America pushing upwards, there has been a lot of talk lately about CNG cars.  We have put together a list of a few commonly asked questions in order to set the record straight and to give those looking into purchasing a CNG car the information that they need before making that decision.

Do CNG Cars mix CNG with gasoline?

No.  Compressed Natural Gas is it’s own fuel source that can be pumped into the engine.  The engine has the ability to run off of gasoline or natural gas without changing any of the components of the engine.  When a CNG car kit is installed, CNG injectors are added to the engine as well as a switch.  When the switch is activated, the engine will either recieve gasoline, or compressed natural gas, but the engine never receives a mixture of these two fuels.

Do CNG cars last longer than normal cars?

Yes.  If you don’t believe us, contact any airport shuttle service or bus service that has CNG converted vehicles.  CNG cars on average last up to 500,000 thousand miles before the engines start having problems.  By converting your car over to a CNG vehicle with a kit, you will prolong the engine of the vehilce, thus making your vehicle last much longer.  CNG increases the value that you get from the vehicle that you convert as it will definitely pay you back over the long run with a long lasting engine.

How Much Cheaper are CNG cars than regular cars?

Gasoline is on the rise, but the average price for a gallon of CNG is $.74 cents.  That is incredibly cheaper than the price of gasoline.  The important thing to understand is that CNG vehicles usually have smaller gas tanks than a traditional gasoline car.  This means that you will need to fill up more often, but when a car is converted to CNG through the use of a cng car kit, the vehicle can run off of gasoline or CNG at the flip of the switch.  This is the best option as you can never have to worry about running out of gas because the vehicle runs off of either form of fuel.

Are CNG Cars safe?

Many people think that CNG cars are much more dangerous due to their aluminum composite tank that is under pressure.  The scientific evidence proves otherwise.  In fact, CNG cars are much safer than your regular car with a gas tank.  If you don’t believe us, watch this.

Do CNG cars see a huge drop in engine performance?

The answer to this question is that it depends on the CNG kit that you install.  Some kits are better than others, but the high performing kits only see about a 5% decrease in engine power.  This number is so miniscule that you will litereally never notice the difference.

Summary

As you can see, CNG cars are incredible vehicles, and the fact is that any vehicle can be converted into a CNG vehicle.  If your state has a strong CNG infrastructure, you can save some serious money when it comes to low fuel costs.  Not only will you save money, but your vehicle will run much longer, making the vehicle easily pay for itself in the long run.

The bill was introduced by John Sullivan (R-OK), Dan Boren (D-OK), John Larson (D-CT) and Kevin Brady (R-TX). The bill is called the New Alternative Transportation To Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011 (NAT GAS).  This bill would essentially increase the incentives for using natural gas in a vehicle, buying a CNG car, or installing an at home fueling station.

The NAT GAS Act would also greatly increase the tax credits allowed for CNG cars in different states. An easy way to find out if your state offers these kickbacks is by simply visiting your state’s website. The Act also lessens the burden felt by manufacturers and will give credits to CNG manufacturers who make CNG cars. This would be a fantastic thing to have happen as it would hopefully allow more manufacturers to start making CNG vehicles. The last Act that was passed in 2004 allowed manufacturers to meet the alternative fuel rule by producing cars that run on flex fuel, but that definitely has not caught on.

One of the greatest things about this act is the fact that natural gas that will be needed to power vehicles can all be produced right here in the U.S.A. This would create jobs and wean us off of the dependence of foreign oil. Hopefully this act will catch on, so please make your local state representatives aware of this bill and lets all work to get it passed off!