When was the last time you drove 795 miles in one day? How much did it cost you? I recently drove 795 miles in one day—using a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Honda Civic GX. The total cost for fuel for the entire trip? Twenty-four dollars and thirty-eight cents.

We begin this story in La Crosse, WI, with an eight gallon tank full of CNG. I began my journey by driving 273.1 miles along Interstate 90 at 65 mph to the north side of O´Hare Airport, and then refueling 5.429 gallons of gasoline equivalent (GGE). A simple calculation of 273.1 miles divided by 5.429 GGE equals 50.3 miles per gallon gas equivalent! Simply astounding. Since this is one of the few public refueling systems in Chicagoland, I was charged $2.19 per gas gallon equivalent (GGE), resulting in a total charge of $11.88.

Now, let´s continue our journey east on I-90 to my alma mater, Notre Dame, where I saw none other than T. Boone Pickens, founder of Pickens Plan, an organization devoted to promoting the use of compressed natural gas as a way to decrease dependence on oil use and as an more environmentally-friendly fuel alternative. He engaged an audience of approximately 500 people with the topic of CNG as a transportation "bridge." We learned that this “bridge” will help America take advantage of a fuel that is 50% cleaner than the diesel fuel that we import from foreign countries—and less expensive. This is important, because even though gasoline prices may be low now, he predicts that oil will reach $300 per barrel in just ten years.

I got to shake his hand and give him a copy of our educational video, Journey to the Zone, which is posted on my Pickens Plan Web page (Chris Schneider at www.pickensplan.com.) This video is a small example of our regional efforts, efforts that are dwarfed by the $62 million that T. Boone Pickens has spent in the last 16 months spreading this message across America.

Now, let´s pop back into my 2006 Honda Civic GX (which is the 3rd generation of CNG Civics produced in America!) and drive through the rain, road construction, and downtown Chicago traffic to Racine. The rain and traffic reduced my mileage to 48.54 MPG, but I was able to refuel at a different station with CNG for only $1.109 per gas gallon equivalent!

So far I had travelled 562.2 miles on $18.49, giving me an average of 30.4 MILES PER DOLLAR (MP$). How does this compare to a hybrid vehicle? If a Prius gets 48 mpg, with gasoline at $2.69/gallon, a Prius driver would have gotten 17.84 MP$. I have completed my measured portion of the day’s adventure getting 70.4% better MP$ than I would have in a Prius. And, that includes nearly half the trip calculations at fuel prices that are approximately double what you could refuel for in your home (using a PHILL home refueling station that hooks up to your home’s natural gas line).

The third leg of my journey included more road construction, rain, and finally fog, but the Honda Civic GX slogged through a total of 795 miles.

Here’s a breakdown of the gas gallon equivalent cost:

273.1 miles @ 50.3 mpg @ $1.109 GGE = $6.02
289.1 miles @ 48.54 mpg @ $2.109 GGE = $13.04
232.8 miles @ 48.54 mpg @ $1.109 GGE = $5.32
TOTAL 795 miles = $24.38

If your vehicle averages 25 mpg, it would have cost you $85.54 to make this same trip. Saving $61.16 feels great—but using clean American fuel is the part that T. Boone Pickens would appreciate for his—and your—grandchildren.