Sign Up for News Updates
At the heart of the stunning Ozark Mountains, Big Cedar Lodge embodies the Bass Pro Shops’ commitment to nature and preserving the great outdoors. With a mantra of “we all live downstream,” the resort continuously seeks ways to reduce its environmental impact. But with more than 1.5 million guests visiting each year, ensuring eco-friendly transportation can be challenging. In 2021, Big Cedar Lodge found a powerful solution — switching its shuttle fleet to primarily run on propane autogas.
Big Cedar Lodge’s Transportation Challenge
The resort’s fleet of 38 shuttles plays a major role in guest transportation, taking visitors between restaurants, golf courses, the airport and other resort amenities. These vehicles operate up to 18 hours a day and cover an average of 700,000 miles each year. Before the switch to include propane autogas, the fleet relied on a mix of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, creating emissions that clashed with its eco-conscious values.
The resort needed a solution to balance its transportation needs with its commitment to environmental preservation.
The Introduction of Propane Autogas
The answer came during the 2021 Missouri Propane Education & Research Council (MOPERC) board meetings at Big Cedar Lodge. MOPERC’s Motor Fuel Committee seized an opportunity to introduce the idea of propane autogas, the third most popular automotive fuel worldwide, known for its clean performance and cost-saving benefits.
“We had something to offer,” said Luke Fitzpatrick, MOPERC’s president and CEO. “We had been doing board meetings at Big Cedar for several years and thought, why not tell them about the benefits propane autogas can provide alongside their mission.”
After hearing the presentation, the resort’s team, including Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, was intrigued. Liz Stanley, the safety and logistics coordinator, admitted that propane autogas as a vehicle fuel was new territory for them. “We had no idea propane even existed in that capacity,” she said. “We made an agreement to try it on a test basis, and we liked it.”
The Switch to Propane Autogas
Big Cedar Lodge partnered with Alliance AutoGas to begin transitioning its existing gasoline to bi-fuel shuttles, which operate on both propane autogas and gasoline.
The first phase of the project involved the conversion of two shuttles. MOPERC provided a mobile propane autogas refueling unit, making it easy for the staff to refuel the newly converted vehicles. The cost of converting the existing shuttles to bi-fuel was about one third of the price of replacing them with new propane autogas models, making it an affordable option for the resort.
The custom conversion kits designed by Alliance AutoGas feature propane technology from Prins. The bi-fuel shuttles can run on either propane autogas or gasoline. If the shuttle starts running low on propane autogas, it will switch over to gasoline until it can be refueled. Once the tank is filled up again, the shuttle switches back to running on propane autogas.
By the end of May 2022, the resort converted 17 of its shuttle vans.
Why Propane Autogas?
What made propane autogas such a compelling choice for Big Cedar Lodge? The benefits extend far beyond environmental impact, touching on fuel savings, vehicle performance and even guest experience.
Because propane autogas is a clean-operating fuel, it causes less wear and tear on engines. Stanley highlighted how the resort used to face frequent transmission problems because of the challenging terrain. “We go up and down hills constantly, and we were going through transmissions in our shuttles about every year to year and a half because they just didn’t have the power to pull the hills. When we did this conversion, it actually upped our pulling power by at least a third, which did away with all of our transmission issues,” she said.
Propane autogas substantially reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and non-methane hydrocarbons. In just one shuttle conversion, Big Cedar Lodge reduced emissions equivalent to recycling 584 trash bags of waste! The resort has also seen its mileage improve from six miles per gallon to as much as 14 miles per gallon.
Visitors at Big Cedar Lodge now enjoy a quieter, more peaceful environment with less noise pollution with the propane autogas-powered shuttles. Since propane autogas burns cleaner than gasoline, guests are also less exposed to the exhaust fumes that often accompany traditional fuel vehicles.
A Win for the Environment and the Bottom Line
For Big Cedar Lodge, the transition to hybrid propane autogas shuttles has been about more than cutting costs — it’s been about aligning its operations with its environmental mission. By using propane autogas, the resort has reduced its carbon footprint and boosted performance without sacrificing the guest experience.
“Big Cedar’s motivation was really to be clean and go green,” Josh Budworth, business development manager for Alliance AutoGas, said. “The fuel savings, performance and range were all benefits, but they really wanted to go green.”
The resort’s decision to convert its shuttle fleet to mainly run on propane autogas has had far-reaching benefits, from cleaner air and quieter rides to major fuel savings and reduced maintenance. Big Cedar Lodge is in the process of installing an on-site 10,000-gallon propane tank for easier refueling. The resort has plans to switch other property vehicles to propane autogas in the near future.