CNG what?

Yesterday, the Department of Motor Vehicles rep stopped by. The semi-annual no-notice inspection of all our equipment relating to the New York State Vehicle Emissions Program. No big deal, we're honest and he didn't find anything out of order. The thing about his visit was that he had a new car. One of these:

From Alternative Fuels Data Center:

[. . .]

Since last year's Clean Cities Conference in Washington D.C., where a GX was driven from California to the nation's capital, Honda Civic CNG GXs continue to find homes in fleets from coast to coast. The state of California acquired its first 40 GXs after an initial trial purchase, and the state of New York put 50 additional Civics to work after trying 15, and finding that they performed beyond expectations. [my emphasis]

Now, the East Coast will benefit from two other fleet acquisitions of the "Cleanest on Earth" Civic GX.

The District of Columbia Department of Public Works just added 24 GXs to its fleet. And the Yellow Cab Company is helping to clean up the airport area of Hartford, Connecticut, by operating a fleet of 31 bright yellow Civic GXs. Because of its 100% alternative fuel use and sub-ultra-low-emission- vehicle emissions, the Civic GX remains an EPAct and Clean Air Act compliance specialist.

[. . .]

Yeah, well it seems the State of New York bought them for their DMV field reps. Naturally we asked him how he liked it. His feelings were deeply held.

"I hate the fucking thing. It has no fucking range. There's no fucking room in the trunk. It's a piece of shit."

He pops the trunk open and a 12 pack of Coronas wouldn't fit in it. Most of it is taken up by the tank for the natural gas. He tells us there are only 6 places on Long Island to get his tank filled, and he only can get 120 miles out of a tankful. He's rescheduling his stops around his gas needs every day. Don't forget Long Island is 110 miles long and 14 miles wide. He ran out of gas once and it was Hell getting a tow. Two guys showed up and refused to hook up because they were scared to have essentially a big propane tank hanging behind them. The poor bastard hates the car with a vengeance.

My advice, if you're gonna drive Green, get a hybird. Everybody makes 'em now and all you need is regular gas. Simple, easy, environmentally friendly. Fuck that natural gas shit. That's for buses and shit that don't go far from their starting points. More advice. If you're gonna go hybrid, go with a major Japanese (Honda, Toyota, Nissan). They do it better than anybody.