Autogas Alternative Fuel Programs Highlighted at WTW22
Alliance AutoGas (AAG), a national alternative fuel company based in Asheville, NC, and Bass Pro Shop’s Big Cedar Lodge, a premier Wilderness Resort in the Ozark Mountains, are highlighting their new partnership at this year’s NTEA Work Truck Week (WTW22) event. An autogas hybrid Big Cedar shuttle van will be displayed in the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) booth. Work Truck Week, North America’s largest work truck event presented by the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), takes place March 8–11, 2022, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Located in Ridgedale, MO, Big Cedar was ranked as the “#1 Resort in the Midwest” for four years in a row in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards. AAG, in collaboration with the Missouri Propane Gas Association, partnered with Big Cedar in November of 2021 to convert two of their guest shuttles to autogas. Autogas, the third most popular automotive fuel in the world, is the name for propane when used as a vehicle fuel. When compared to gasoline, autogas substantially reduces greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, non-methane hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide. From transporting its guests between their resort golf courses, to picking up guests from the airport, Big Cedar shuttles stay on the road 18 hours a day. Each one of the converted vans runs an average of 120,000 miles per year, resulting in CO2 emissions reductions from one van alone being the equivalent of 584 trash bags of waste being recycled instead of going to the landfill, or the carbon sequestered by 16.8 acres of US forest in one year.
The passenger shuttle on display is a 2021 Chevrolet G3500 with 6.6 liter direct-injected engine, converted with an Alliance Engineered System featuring technology from Prins, a pioneer in fuel system development for more than 35 years. The autogas shuttles in the Big Cedar fleet are bi-fuel, hybrid vehicles, also operating on gasoline, eliminating range anxiety. AAG is the exclusive distributor of Prins Alternative Fuel Systems in the US.
Josh Budworth, Business Development Manager for AAG, says “Big Cedar Lodge has an outstanding team that is committed to focusing on sustainability throughout their entire operation. We are excited to partner with Big Cedar to develop their autogas program and look forward to helping them reduce their carbon footprint.”
AAG will be holding a press conference on Wednesday, March 9th in the Propane Education & Research Council booth #5591 beginning at 3:10 p.m. The event will cover the autogas program in further detail and showcase one of the Big Cedar converted autogas shuttles.