espolson.com

I’m no longer keeping close track of my commuting costs, but I’ll throw a few figures at you…

This week I’ll cross the 20,000 mile mark since I bought my CNG 2001 Chevy Cavalier in mid-March. If I was using gasoline, and figuring with today’s gas price in my town of $3.69 at 30mpg, that would be $2460. CNG is $1.75 where I stop every day right now, so that comes to $1167. Just by those figures, I saved $1293 by today’s prices.

These figures are admittedly imprecise. Between March and now, gasoline spiked up to over four dollars. The highest I saw it here was $4.32, 63 cents over what it is now. At the CNG station I most frequently use during the week the good stuff was $1.75, which spiked up to $1.98 when gas was at it’s highest, and is back down to what it was in March, a drop of 23 cents. When CNG does spike, it doesn’t go up anywhere near as much as gasoline. Another factor is that CNG is $1.15 in Appleton, where I fill up almost every weekend which drives my cost down even further. Yeah, $1.15 which it has been for at least a year. I NEED a transfer to Appleton (for reasons other than to bug my buddy Matt every day).

Something I’ve noticed since I moved to natural gas, the smell of gasoline is really nasty. I have to run a tank of gasoline through my car every 60 days and I find that having to fill the gas tank is a repulsive experience. I can literally taste it. It’s amazing what removing yourself from exposure to toxic chemicals and their vapors will do for you.

I’d say I made the right decision.  I’ve saved almost half the cost of a Fuelmaker Phill.  Speaking of which, that’ll be my next CNG purchase.