Tulsa to Omaha Trip

[Andy Kmetz]

I just completed a trip in my Honda GX car to the Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting. I added a small extra tank in my car and made the trip to Omaha thanks to help from the Nebraska gas utility. I made stops in Topeka, Kansas and Bartlesville, Oklahoma on the way up and Overland Park, Kansas on the way back. I did find that driving at 55 mph gave me ample fuel to make the trip. Now if we can just get more dependable stations throughout the country. I'm looking for my next trip to Champaign, Illinois from Tulsa. I need some help from a few stations in St. Louis, Springfield, MO and Champaign to make the trip. Maybe later this year?

[cngacrossusa]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Andy . . .Great trip in midwest (OK thru KS to NE) on dedicated cng!! That Topeka, KS price of $1.89 per gge is REAL RIPOFF though when same company (ONEOK) owns both cng pumps in KS (Topeka and Overland Park) . . . . AND . . all the cng pumps in Oklahoma, but the public price at all ONG pumps is only $1.11 per gge.

Also, WHERE did you get cng in Nebraska ??. . . . all they have there is corn and ethanol . . . ARRGGHHH!!

[Andy Kmetz]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

I got the gas from the Nebraska local utility in Omaha. It was a private facility, but I called in advance to make sure that I could buy some fuel. You can find their number from one of the internet locator links.

I'm still hopeful we will see more stations throughout the midwest. Would love to take trips to Denver and Illinois at some point.

[John Mitton]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

The folks at Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha are great
I took a trip recently from California to Michigan in an Impala, just had to get my brother-in-law to flatbed a trailer behind his truck from Denver to Kearny other than this I made it all the way filling at...

• Palm Springs, CA
• Barstow, CA
• Las Vegas, NV
• St. George, UT
• Springville, UT
• [home for a week in Utah]
• Evanston, WY
• Rock Springs, WY
• Cheyenne, WY
• Denver, CO
• [tow to Kearny, NE]
• Omaha, NE
• Kansas City, MO
• St. Louis, MO
• Indianapolis, IN
• [private fill in Union City, IN]
• Adrian, MI
• Ann Arbor, MI

[CNG Utah]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Wow, John that sounds like a new cross-country CNG record. We've driven a few dual-fuels from the east coast to Utah, but have never gone that far in a dedicated vehicle. The farthest I've gone is from northern CA down to Barstow, through Vegas and up to northern Utah. We've also driven a Civic from Denver up through Wyoming and down to Provo.

Has anyone else done any other extra-long dedicated CNG trips?

[Stu Man]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Hi John.

Wow, want an impressive CNG Road Trip !

I followed your trip on cngprices.com. I don't see any CNG filling stations located in Omaha, NE.

Did you need to get a private fill in Omaha, NE ?

Stu Man

The folks at Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha are great
I took a trip recently from California to Michigan in an Impala, just had to get my brother-in-law to flatbed a trailer behind his truck from Denver to Kearny other than this I made it all the way filling at...

• Palm Springs, CA
• Barstow, CA
• Las Vegas, NV
• St. George, UT
• Springville, UT
• [home for a week in Utah]
• Evanston, WY
• Rock Springs, WY
• Cheyenne, WY
• Denver, CO
• [tow to Kearny, NE]
• Omaha, NE
• Kansas City, MO
• St. Louis, MO
• Indianapolis, IN
• [private fill in Union City, IN]
• Adrian, MI
• Ann Arbor, MI

[John Mitton]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Yes, the folks at Metropolitan Utilities can help you with a fill, as they did for me and the opening poster on this thread.

http://www.mudomaha.com/

[cngacrossusa]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Was re-reading this post on 2200+ mile one-way trip you made in the Impala (John of NaturalDrive) and it's IMPRESSIVE indeed!! Was this part to real-world test of cng Impala? What were it's stats for mpg on dedicated cng? Have you publicized this nearly 5,000 mile trip to Clean Cities throughout the midwest (or whole USA for that matter) to help in filling in the void zones for no public cng?

Any influence you can put on NE, IN, KS, IL, AR and other states that have very little public cng infrastructure??

Especially for Indiana, the downfall of NiSource network of public cng pumps is unsettling. Thoughts ?

[John Mitton]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

We get about 2 MPG better fuel economy in the NaturalDrive Impala vs. gasoline. The purpose of the trip was to quickly get a vehicle (and myself) up to Michgan for testing.

I just did another long trip in our dedicated CNG cargo van (this was our test vehicle for GM's OEM program), filling in:

* Ann Arbor
* Union City, IN [private]
* Indianapolis
* St. Louis
* Kansas City
* Miami, OK
* Shawnee, OK

... and then the same thing in reverse.

On the way down I was towing a 5,000 lb load so did not want to risk the 315 mile run directly from St. Louis to Miami although I might have made it. Coming back with an empty load I would have easily made it from Miami to St. Louis were it not for only 2500 psi at the ONG Miami station. Got stuck in a blizzard on the way back and had to go about 45 mph the whole time, causing extra overnight stays along the way

It was over 2,000 miles and less than $180 in fuel (love the Oklahoma 75 cent price)

[mattsdrumset]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

Just figured I would chime in since I just made the trip from Sapulpa, Ok to Omaha on my way out to Idaho. I am driving my self converted bi-fuel 07 Silverado. My truck has 18 Gal Capacity at 3,600 PSI, and gets approx 13-14 mpg on Gasoline. I am not sure of the MPGGE on CNG, though based on when I filled up and when I ran out, I suspect around 10-11 MPGGE.
I filled up at the new station at 51st and Yale, Tulsa, Ok. (nice Modern 3,600 psi Station)
then to Miami, Ok (ONG 3,000 psi station)
Then to Overland Park, KS (OneOK 3,600 psi station)
Then on to Omaha, NE. I fueled at the I-80 Fuel station, (5318 L St. Omaha, NE 68117). Good thing I have a bi-fuel because I ran out of CNG about 20 miles before Omaha. I got approx 175 miles before switching over to Gasoline. Based on 175 miles, and 18 gal capacity my truck gets approx 10-11 MPGGE. But, on the plus side, I only used 2 gallons of Gasoline.

I am still on the trip, heading out toward Couer d'Alene, ID now. If anyone has any information on any CNG stations passing through South Dakota on I-90, send me a PM. I am going to run out of CNG in about 100 miles, and I just went through Sioux City, IA.

Thanks

-Matthew

[Highmarker]

Re: Tulsa to Omaha Trip

mattsdrumset,

You might want to consider going through Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Evanston, Utah (Brigham City), and then up I-84 to Boise. You could run most of the way from Cheyenne to Boise on CNG. Of course, the Brigham City station is off-line today because of the power company, but should be on-line tomorrow. Just fill up in Ogden (Flying J).