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Even in California (only place with many CNG stations), they could have made the stations more user-friendly (http://www.newsweek.com/id/154709)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/523/2005_Civic_GX_Front.jpgKaren Breslau - Newsweek - Aug 22, 2008

It's a Viable and Clean option, but non-renewable -- Ed.

"You don't know what I'm talking about."

T. Boone Pickens had me nailed. We were aboard his Gulfstream jet, flying back from a day of shooting one of his "Pickens Plan" energy commercials at a west Texas wind farm. The billionaire oilman turned wind-energy evangelist was rhapsodizing about the new fueling system he was having installed in his Dallas mansion. Using a home fueling unit in his garage that runs off the same gas line that powers his stove (Boone Pickens cooks?), he would be able to fill up his natural-gas-powered Honda Civic for the equivalent of about $1.20 per gallon, he explained. All from the comfort of his own home.

I feigned reportorial omniscience, but had to admit—I really didn't know what he was talking about. That night, from my hotel in Dallas, I called my brother, an energy-industry executive in Houston. He didn't know much about compressed natural gas (CNG) as a consumer transportation fuel either. So I decided to take Pickens' suggestion, and go find out for myself.

Natural gas is a relatively abundant, domestically produced fossil fuel—one of the byproducts of drilling for oil. Most natural gas is used today to fire power plants, produce electricity and heat homes. While large vehicle fleets such as buses, taxis, garbage trucks and government vehicles have long been powered by natural gas, the use of CNG as a consumer fuel in the United States is still largely a niche market. Of the 8.4 million natural-gas-powered vehicles worldwide, only 120,000 are in the United States, and of those, only about 1,500 or so are owned by individual consumers, a set of statistics that makes Pickens go ballistic. He says he's motivated by patriotism, but let's not forget that included in his business empire is Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE), the largest provider of natural gas for vehicles in North America. If we all start lining up for natural gas to put in our engines, T. Boone Pickens is going to get a lot richer… http://www.newsweek.com/id/154709

The four-cylinder CNG-powered engine labored in steep mountain passes—and generally lacked pickup—but did fine at cruising speeds and in city driving.

The Civic GX I drive at work has the same performance as a regular Civic. She's probably used to driving FSP V-8's.

You can tell this article was written by a dingbat. It takes no more effort to fuel a natural gas car than one that runs on gasoline. It takes all of 60 seconds to learn how.

I don't see Boone ever having a monopoly on refueling stations. It would take an awful lot of effort to convert much of our fleet to natural gas, and I don't know if that will ever happen. I still think Boone is on the right track in getting more windpower installed. If nothing else, it would save some oil and natural gas that is being used to generate electricity.

Harry

This lady sounds like she isn't any where near the leading edge of the consumer front. I don't think a car like this should really be evaluated by a person to whom the car is not marketed. It would be like one of us cleampg'ers evaluating the new Dodge Viper. We could do it, but our review would be completely irrelevant, much like this one is.

It would be like one of us cleampg'ers evaluating the new Dodge Viper. We could do it, but our review would be completely irrelevant, much like this one is.

Oh, I don't know. Seems to me that enough of us are ex-gearheads that we could come up with something relevant. It's just that we would each need to shower with a pumice stone after. ;)

As for CNG, haven't some manufacturers come up with cars can run on it or gasoline? I could have sworn that Volvo had a small fleet of "bifuel" cars with dual fuel systems. It's probably expensive, but probably not a whole lot more expensive than the hybrid systems that many of us are willing to buy for many of the same reasons.

**EDIT**
OK, I was close. Volvo does petrol/LPG vehicles.
http://www.volvocars.com/intl/corporation/NewsEvents/News/Pages/default.aspx?item=25

Hi Chilimac02:
It would be like one of us cleampg'ers evaluating the new Dodge Viper. We could do it, but our review would be completely irrelevant, much like this one is.
___I would not want to do a 1,000 mile eval but maybe a 100 mile comp level P&G, sure ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Well... she was driving an alternative-fuel economy car. What kind of performance was she expecting? A V8 Lexus?