Compressed natural gas pump attracts more and more folks
MID-CITY With the majority of the nation’s drivers taking a beating at the pump, as gasoline prices jump to within 27 cents of an all-time high, I thought I’d check out some sustainable alternatives that just might save our car-centric culture.
Being in Santa Monica, the land of sus-tainability, I didn’t have to go very far. I packed a cooler with Cokes and a turkey sandwich, grabbed a beach chair and the newspaper and headed out to Stewart Street near Olympic Boulevard, where Clean Energy — one of the leaders in clean transportation — has a compressed-natural-gas pump.
It’s unlike any other gas station. There are no bathrooms or squeegees, no attendant or mini-mart to buy some smokes. Instead, there is only a curved driveway leading to the pump. There’s a trash can and signs warning against smoking within 50 feet. There’s a small lawn in front with trees that provided me with plenty of shade.
Thinking like a common gas guzzler, I was sure that nobody would show up. After all, how many people use natural gas to get around? It’s usually reserved for heating one’s home, not powering a Buick. Less than five minutes into my relaxing day at the pump, someone showed up in a brand new Honda Civic GX — the cleanest, internal combustion engine on Earth, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The owner, John Lewis, a 50-something Englishman in brown shorts and a polo shirt, had just purchased the car over the weekend and was filling up for the first time. Lewis, a designer at the Volkswagen-Audi Design Center at the Santa Monica Airport, bought the eco-friendly vehicle because of his commute. He drives daily from Simi Valley to Santa Monica, and not only does the Civic save him money on gas, he also cuts a significant amount of time from his commute because he can use the carpool lane.
“In the long run, this is the way to go,” said Lewis, a native of Great Britain, where natural gas has been used to fuel mini-cabs, buses and private vehicles since the ’60s.
“There so much natural gas in the States that I don’t know why more people don’t use it to power their cars. You get better gas mileage and you don’t have to change your oil nearly as often.”
The only trouble is getting the gas into the car. Lewis couldn’t seem to get the pump to work, despite watching a three-minute video on how to use it. He watched it twice as he tried to connect the hose to his car several times. He became visually frustrated and seemed close to giving up when I let him borrow my cell phone so he could call customer service.
“I feel like such a dummy, and I design cars,” he said with a grin.
As Lewis talked with the operator, a pet groomer named Oscar pulled up in a large white van. He quickly connected the hose and a loud swishing sound came from the pump. The meter started running and in about a minute his tank was full. For $14.64 Oscar received the gasoline equivalent of 5.987 gallons, or for those who have a hard time with math, $2.45 per gallon. Considering the cheapest gas in Santa Monica goes for $3.17, I’d say Oscar was getting a deal.
“It was cheaper a few months ago,” said Oscar, who also had a difficult time fueling up the first time, but has since gotten used to the pumps. “I was getting it for $1.50 a gallon. Now it’s almost $2.50, which is still good, but no matter how cheap it is, you still don’t like to see prices go up.”
Aside from a station near LAX, Oscar the pet groomer often fuels up in Santa Monica. He usually tops off the tank, but still needs to visit a pump at least once a day because of the amount of driving he does.
“Sometimes I get a little nervous if I’m running low because there just aren’t that many stations that have this,” he said. “You have to pretty much map out your route and keep in mind where you can get gas.”
Once Oscar left, Lewis was pretty much done filling up his Civic. He thanked me for the phone and rode off to work.
I went back to my lawn chair, cracked open a Coke and before I could finish half of it, another car pulled up, this time a black Crown Victoria with little flames on the side. Out popped an attractive young red head in short shorts and a top. She was headed for the beach and needed to fill up.
“I usually spend about $20 bucks to fill up and that lasts me for five days or so, whereas before I was spending anywhere from $40 to $60. Much of that was because we have our own filling station at our house, and that’s like $1 less than filling up here,” said Laura Thatcher.
After dropping just over $15 on six gallons, Thatcher jumped in her car and pulled out of the driveway. Just as she was about to turn onto the street, she rolled her window down and shouted, “The best thing is, you don’t have to pay for parking in Santa Monica.”
After about two hours of hanging at the pump, I couldn’t believe that I had run into at least six people driving a CNG auto.
And there I was, seriously questioning whether or not I would run into anyone at all.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 11, 2007. Read the original PDF.