CNG in Nothern Idaho

[Green Potato]

Hi, first post on this forum.

Pardon me, but I have many questions on CNG.

Are there CNG stations in Northn Idaho (Sandpoint, Hayden, Coeur d'Alene)? How about in Spokane?

If not, why not? How much would it cost to get a station set up? How much is the wholesale cost of CNG?

Is there a ballpark range as to cost of retrofitting cars/SUVs for CNG?

How about buying cars/SUV's new with CNG-ready systems?

I don't get it. What is the catch? The savings and Green potential seems amazing. Is there a hidden cost/risk/danger? If not, why hasn;t this taken Detroit like a storm?

When one lives rather out of the way, like Sandpoint, can one store CNG at home. For example, instead of having to drive a far distance just to fill-up, can I simply buy and store excess fuel cylinders like I would were I buying propane.

Sorry for the naivete. But your help in elightening me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Green Potato

[j03j03]

Re: CNG in Nothern Idaho

Since i don't go up that way very often i'm not sure if there are any stations. Go to cngprices.com and you can find all the stations in the US. The cost of having a vehicle retrofitted depends on how new it is. For a 2000 Chevy Cavalier I was quoted 10,000 to have it converted so we just bought one that was OE. They do have home fueling stations that you can have installed. PHILL is big but not the only one out there. For you I would advise a bi-fuel, so if you get somewhere that doesn't have a NG fill station you could just run gasoline. But there are lots of vehicles out there that already have the system built in. You can try ebay and ksl.com.

The main down side to natural gas is the lack of a solid fueling network. In utah we don't have a problem finding stations but for people in Arizona and Idaho there are little to no stations.

Hope this helps some! Welcome to the group!

[cngmike]

Re: CNG in Nothern Idaho

Detroit just dosn't get it. Of corse their balance sheet seems to prove this.

[Devo]

Re: CNG in Nothern Idaho

I believe Avista has pumps in Spokane, but they are private and not open to the public.

I recently moved back from UT to WA and am looking to put a FuelMaker FMQ in at our place. No one has heard of CNG in this area and their eyes go wide when I tell them about fueling for $0.63 / gallon when we were in UT. I'm talking to some friends in city/county government to see if I can drum up interest to get infrastructure built.

Dependable infrastructure, able to support fleets or the general public in numbers larger than a few, can cost quite a bit (I would guess hundreds of thousands) as can conversions (guessing $3K for a company mass converting to $12K for a single). Grants and tax incentives do exist from area to area to help out. Check out my website for more info.

[jdelect]

Re: CNG in Nothern Idaho

I think the WONDERFUL OIL COMPANIES pay the car companies to keep a lid on it. Take honda for example they advertise that there are the green car company leader. But do they show there gx in there line up? The bottom line is that you DON'T need to byu gas from the crooked OIL COMPANIES the hybrids you do. Cost of adding one car in there line up and saying a little about it is minimal. I tell as many people about cng as I can to try to get the secret out!