Traveling America, The Natural Gas Way

A Texas college student is currently driving from Austin to Boston in a natural gas-powered vehicle to bring attention to CNG cars. Castlen Kennedy, a University of Texas student, is currently driving a converted 2009 Chevy Tahoe during the trek, and reporting his experience in a blog titled "The Green American Road Trip." Yesterday, Kennedy arrived in Houston to gas up (heh, that expression has new meaning here) at a natural gas station on Washington Avenue. She demonstrates the way a NG pump differs from a regular gasoline pump. Well, at least you don't have to worry about spills. Currently, only Honda's Civic GX comes from the factory with a natural gas kit. Other cars require an EPA-approved conversion kit. So why did Kenney go with a Tahoe? Well, I'll let her tell her own story.

First and foremost, I'm a Texan y'all. Its one thing to show people you can run your car on natural gas but its another to show them you can do it with a variety of vehicle types - and there's probably one that will suit your preferences. If you're from Texas and you like big cars, or you have five kids and you need a big car, CNG will still work for you. You don't have to all pack into a clown car to feel like you are making a good choice. Second, I need the extra space for tank capacity. Remember 6th grade science class when we learned that gas molecules like to be farther apart than liquid molecules? Well apply that here - CNG takes up more room than gasoline so I need the physical space for the tanks. I'll do a post just on the tanks soon. Third, I'll be using a domestic fuel, so why not a domestic car. Please don't send me Honda hate mail, I know some are manufactured here but you get my point. I like Hondas, in fact I have an Accord, but for this Great American Road Trip, the Chevrolet is a great fit. This collection of Chevy commercials I found on YouTube helps sum up the "American" - Chevrolet connection pretty well. (At least according to Chevrolet!) And finally, the good people at Apache Corporation who are letting me borrow the car for my trip wanted a Tahoe. They will put it to good use after my trip, and that's the most practical vehicle for their needs. So there you have it. Its been ordered and is being 'converted' as we speak. When its ready, I'll post pics here. Stay tuned.