New York Auto Show: Honda to NY Civic buyers: "Phill 'er up!"
Honda announced today that it is bringing to market a compressed natural gas (CNG) motivated Civic GX to New York buyers this fall.
According to the automaker, the GX will put out 'near zero emissions,' giving owners access to tax credits and home refuelling via an optional Phill home refueling apparatus.
In CNG guise, the green Civic nets an EPA fuel economy rating of 28/39 (city/highway), while meeting federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and ILEV zero evaporative emission standards. It does so via a 1.8-liter four-banger putting out 115 horsepower and 109 ft-lbs. of twist (a 10 percent increase) and 5-speed automatic.
The home refueling appliance, "Phill" is a product of the FuelMaker Corporation, and is usually
garage-resident. The system allows overnight refueling, which nets owners natural gas at a rate about 50 percent
cheaper than buying traditional gasoline from a station. GX owners on the road can get fuel at select CNG stations
around New York State and still save an estimated 25 percent over petrol buyers. Phill must be professionally
installed.
All-New Natural Gas-Powered 2006 Civic GX to be Introduced to NY Consumers
Owners to benefit from tax incentives, lower cost fuel and optional 'Phill' home refueling appliance
NEW YORK 04/13/2006 -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., today announced that it will begin retailing its all-new compressed natural gas (CNG) powered 2006 Civic GX to New York state customers this fall. Scheduled to go on sale at select Honda dealers throughout the state, the ultra-clean Civic GX produces near zero emissions, makes owners eligible for significant tax credits, and can be refueled with a convenient home refueling appliance. The Civic GX is the only dedicated natural gas-powered passenger vehicle available to retail customers in the United States.
Based on the all-new award-winning 2006 Civic, the Civic GX achieves a city/highway Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rated fuel economy of 28/39 miles per gasoline-gallon equivalent and meets federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and ILEV zero evaporative emission certification standards. The Civic GX, considered to be "Cleanest on Earth," is the only vehicle certified by the EPA to meet both of these extremely strict emission standards, as natural gas is a clean burning fuel.
The Civic GX offers customers comfort and convenient features comparable to a Civic LX - the most popular trim level in the Civic lineup - including the same standard safety features that have earned Civic the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top Safety Pick - Gold" Award. Standard safety features include dual front airbags, side curtain airbags, driver's side impact airbag, front passenger's side impact airbag, ABS and Honda's Advanced Compatibility Body structure (ACE).
Equipped standard with a 5-speed automatic transmission, its 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder engine delivers 115 horsepower and 109 ft-lbs of torque, both an increase of more than 10 percent versus the previous model.
Natural gas fuel is an ideal lower-cost alternative to gasoline. Primarily a domestically-produced fuel with a price that has proven to track below that of petroleum fuels, natural gas is approximately 25 percent less expensive than gasoline when purchased at a refueling station, and approximately 50 percent cheaper than gasoline when supplied by a home refueling appliance.
"Phill" - a natural gas home refueling appliance manufactured by FuelMaker Corporation - provides GX owners a convenient and affordable method of refueling at home. Phill can be mounted to a garage wall either indoors or outdoors, and allows the GX to refuel overnight directly from a homeowner's existing natural gas supply line. It is designed to offer ease of operation with simple "start" and "stop" buttons, and automatically shuts off when the tank is full. Phill is sold separately from GX, and must be installed by a trained technician authorized by FuelMaker.
Civic GX owners who do not wish to purchase Phill can refuel at conveniently located natural gas refueling stations across New York state.
In addition to convenient refueling, Civic GX owners are eligible for tax breaks and incentives of up to $4,000 for the car and up to $1,000 for the purchase and installation of "Phill". Both GX and Phill benefit from the federal tax credits enacted Jan 1, 2006, for clean alternative fuel vehicles and fueling infrastructure.
Honda already markets the Civic GX to fleet operators with their own fueling stations, and has begun offering the Civic GX and Phill to its customers at select dealers in California.
Natural gas-powered vehicles are part of Honda's energy strategy to offer the best available technology for the reduction of air pollution and petroleum dependence and serves as an enabling technology for hydrogen fuel cell cars in the future. The 2006 Civic GX will be assembled in East Liberty, Ohio.
# # #
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gardiner Westbound 3:45PM (4/13/2006)
The innovative, quick Japanese just keep hammering the domestics.
Reply
Whydrive 3:53PM (4/13/2006)
In other news, Honda is cutting hybrid production because noone cares for a hybrid accord.
Reply
Vinny 3:56PM (4/13/2006)
Yes, but there will be some morons that'll post soon saying, "this car will be too slow... blah blah blah... something about Brokeback Mountain... blah rant blah... have you forgotten about some random thing GM, Ford has done in the past just like it but they didn't get front page coverage... rant blah rant rant... Consumer Reports is in bed with Japan because they won't make GM look better...rant rant rant"
Reply
zverg 4:00PM (4/13/2006)
wow a civic I would consider purchasing. How prolific are these CNG filling stations in NY though. Are they on the NY State Thruway, because if they are I haven't noticed them. That's some decent mileage in a decent-sized car with probably less emissions than a hybrid.
Reply
Ryan 4:01PM (4/13/2006)
I love this car!!!
No fault of the car, but it seems like a pain to take something like this on a road trip
Reply
Non-Bizarro Adam 4:06PM (4/13/2006)
For some reason, I usually come here to defend domestics, but this is a really cool idea. Ever since I rode in my first CNG taxi cab, I have wondered why this isn't available in more applications. Even if it were the same price, it is much cleaner burning. If it was up to me, we'd build nuclear reactors, use the electricity to produce CNG, and reduce out dependence on petroleum by quite a bit. Big Oil shouldn't mind, they also produce quite a bit of NG, and the infrastructure to distribute it is already available, although it would need to be beefed up to handle the extra load. Seems to me that is the best of all worlds.
Kudos to Honda for bringing this to real use among consumers.
Reply
Puff Chippy 4:10PM (4/13/2006)
Man, only on Autoblog can a post about Honda releasing a CNG Civic be IMMEDIATELY turned into another round of 'Let's Bash America'. I think Autoblog could post about how the sun can cause skin cancer and the first comment would be about how this is only a problem with American sun and that Japanese sun doesn't have this same problem. You guys are laaaame...
Reply
Vinny 4:27PM (4/13/2006)
Good one Puff Chippy. You got me to laugh outloud on that one.
Dude, who is posting anything bad about America or it's people? It's the big three that suck, not the country. They just happen to be in America.
We're just tired of watching the real ingenuity coming from Japan while we're complacent to just show up for our union paycheck.
To see what I'm talking about read the latest article from David E. Davis in Winding Road magazine about the problem in Detroit. It's free. http://www.windingroad.com
Reply
Justin 4:39PM (4/13/2006)
why is it that every time a japanese automaker comes out with a plausible, cheap innovation they are stealing our jobs, threatening american markets, killing opportunity for others, raping our mothers, and denounced as blasphemous, blood drinking, evil competitors but every time a domestic automaker creates something new, it's their secret weapon to end the japanese companies and come out on top?
is it ok if one's respective technology be praised for the advancement of automotive technology?
Reply
Corey W 4:45PM (4/13/2006)
Are you kidding me?? This is unbelievable... What's the use of posting if every entry turns into "American/domestics sucks"
Vinny, those responses are always after some other morons posting "this car is a piece of American crap...blah blah blah..... something about all liberals should die because they love Escalades and Communism...blah rant blah... have you forgotten Honda and Toyota worked together to create the Sun and Earth, the remaining planets were designed by the Germans... rant blah rant rant... Asians are so much smarter, Americans are stupid, other mindless crazy speculations on what GM and Ford should be doing, endless theories about how Satan was behind the first Union, which was first accepted by stupid Americans.... on and on and on and on about how their GM broke at 30 miles and their import has lasted a gazillion miles, how they're able to climb Mt. Fuji in their Ridgeline, on and on and on and on about their Civic which because of how technically advanced Honda is, can now drive off of human feces....rant rant rant rant.
Reply
Vinny 4:54PM (4/13/2006)
Dang! I can just see the saliva flying as you typed that one out.
Do you get that pumped up at those union rally's?
Reply
Ryan 4:55PM (4/13/2006)
Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, yes they all compete with each other. And YES they all work with each other.
It's funny, GM/Toyota/Honda have a better relationship the the autobloggers.
GM/Toyota I know for sure have been in bed with each other for years.
Anyone remember back in 1995 the purley American made Cavalier was actually rebadged and exported to Japan as a Toyota!
The 1995 Cavalier (esp Z24) was a pretty bad ass looking car for it's time, and looked just as good, if not better than a 1995 Corolla or Civic. They really screwed it when they ran it for 10YEARS. 1995-1999 would have paid so much more of a respect to that car.
Reply
Ryan 4:57PM (4/13/2006)
#10
"Dang! I can just see the saliva flying as you typed that one out.
Do you get that pumped up at those union rally's?"
-Well, you do kind of have to admit that it's really kind of true on this site, either way I'm still logging on :-)
Reply
Corey W 4:57PM (4/13/2006)
BTW: Yes, it would be too slow for me, but that's because my right foot is made out of lead.
But for most, especially in NY area, this would be excellent for daily commuting.
Reply
Autoskimmer 5:11PM (4/13/2006)
Any rumors of a natural gas hybrid? Would the electric motor help acceleration to a point to make it worthwhile?
Reply
Joe Scandura 5:14PM (4/13/2006)
This is is not new I work on a fleet of E350's with the same Technology for years now big deal.It is only new because honda brought it to market.The federal Gov mandated all city and county fleet go to aternitive fuel long ago. Socal gas whole fleet is this way.
Reply
Richard Warren 5:36PM (4/13/2006)
I'm not a Honda lover by any means, maybe becasue I worked with them for years and saw the real item. BUT you have to give them credit where credit is do.
As to the constant anti domestic or pro Asian rant, it's hopless, just keep in mind they were abused children. They think if they continue ranting on about GM/anti domestic, a new disease/disability READ excuse of how it ruined their life, like smoking, gambling, booze, remebering 50 years later that maybe some priest touched them in the worng place because they smell money. Hell, from some of the posters it's obvious they have "Post Traumatic Stress"
Can't you see it now? "Class action suit against domestic cars aimed mostly at GM was announced today, the class contends that stress over pro domestic posters on a blog has ruined their life, they are seeking lifetime retirements and legacy costs
Reply
caffee 5:40PM (4/13/2006)
A pregnant rollerskate, wow, how inventive. That little sucker will have to do a lot better than 39mpg on the highway for me to consider wearing it around town.
Reply
Corey W 5:46PM (4/13/2006)
Autoskimmer,
There was a project by The California Air Resources Board to work on a natural gas hybrid electric transit bus, not sure what happened with that. And can't remeber where I saw it but I thought Toyota had a CNG Camry Hybrid...
Reply
Howard Kerr 5:58PM (4/13/2006)
Hasn't Honda been offering a GX level Civic for quite awhile, like at least two generations? When I looked at their website in years past, I could have sworn i saw it as an option...just had no idea where it could ever be filled up.
Reply