GLENDALE : Officials Testing Car Run on Natural Gas

Glendale City Council members and other city officials will spend a week test-driving a car powered by natural gas to help evaluate a new prototype vehicle designed to emit fewer pollutants.

Mayor Eileen Givens and other officials will drive the car and report back to the company with information about its performance. The Southern California Gas Co. and American Honda Motor Co. have developed 10 prototype vehicles that are being tested by public and private agencies over a three-year period, officials said.

“Fleet vehicle operators need to take a serious look at how to cut down on future vehicle emissions,” said Givens, who was scheduled to accept the keys to the car from Gas Co. officials at City Hall on Tuesday.

Natural gas has become an increasingly used alternative vehicle fuel in recent years.

Government agencies, the Gas Co. and fleet operators have installed refueling stations around the Los Angeles Basin as a way of fighting air pollution, Gas Co. officials said.

The city of Glendale already has several natural gas vehicles in its fleet, and there are plans to build a small natural gas fueling station near the Ventura Freeway at San Fernando Road.

Gas Co. officials say natural gas not only burns cleaner than gasoline, it also costs less. But there are drawbacks, including the bulkiness of natural gas fuel tanks, the inferior speed and pickup of cars that burn natural gas and the limited number of refueling sites.

The natural-gas-powered Honda can carry the equivalent of 7.4 gallons of gasoline, giving the car an average range of 275 miles per tankful.