Wednesday 2nd September 1992

The Southern California Gas Company purchased the first motor vehicles powered by natural gas. Spurred on by a new California law promoting the commercialization of alternative fuel vehicles, the company put 50 of the new vehicles into service and began promoting the natural gas vehicles (NGVs) as a viable option for the future. Compressed natural gas costs 25-30 percent less than gasoline and has an octane rating of 130, meaning it burns much cleaner than even premium unleaded gasoline. The NGVs can also go 10,000 miles between oil changes, 40,000 miles between tune-ups, and 75,000 miles between spark plugs.