Compressed Natural Gas Car Drivers Pay Less For Fuel

The price of gas continues to go up, as Oklahoma drivers feel the pinch.

According to AAA, the national average cost of a gallon of regular gas is now more than $5, up from when regular gas was around $3.80 just a year ago. 

In Oklahoma, drivers are paying about $4.64 for a gallon.

One Oklahoma man said he knows of a solution some people are turning to

Larry Williamson said while many people are paying more than $4 a gallon, he's paying less than half that.

Drivers across the country are cringing as the price at the pump goes up, but Larry Williamson said he knows a good deal when he sees one.

“You can see at this station we’re filling up for $1.05 per gallon. $1.05 per gallon," said Williamson.

Not so fast; that's because Williamson drives a compressed natural gas car.

"The only way that a large number of people are gonna be able to get CNG cars is by putting pressure on car manufacturers who sell vehicles in America to offer Americans at least 1, 2 or 3 options of being able to buy factory built, dedicated, true CNG vehicle," said Williamson.

The City of Tulsa said it has two public CNG Stations.

The current price for natural gas at those stations is about $1.83 per gallon.

“If several more Americans were driving clean-burning CNG cars instead of exporting a lot of our natural gas and importing more than 6 million barrels a day of crude oil we could be energy independent again," said Williamson.

Williamson said the benefits don't stop at the pump. 

"The price per gallon isn't the whole story," said Williamson.

He said this car gets about 28 to 30 miles per gallon in the city and roughly 38 on the highway with the air conditioning on.

"They put out about 20% less CO2 than a gasoline car, and they put out almost no, no SO3, almost no carbon monoxide, almost no...They answer all the environmental questions," said Williamson.

He said CNG cars are very simple.

"It's not an exciting car to drive. It's not blindingly fast or anything. It's just a normal driving car," said Williamson.

Williamson said it takes the same amount of time to fill up a CNG car. 

One drawback, however, is that filling stations are much harder to come by, as are the vehicles themselves.