Honda starts selling natural gas Civic in New York state

Honda has been selling natural gas powered Civics In California since 1998. Now for the first time the cars are available outside of the sunshine state. This will be the only dedicated natural gas powered car offered for sale in the United States. The Civic GX has an 8 gallon gas equivalent fuel tank with natural gas pressurized to 3600 psi. It's rated at the equivalent of 28/39 mpg. The engine is a 1.8L four banger rated at 113 hp and is mated to a 5-speed automatic.

Thanks to the near zero emissions, the Civic is eligible for a $4,000 federal tax credit and an extra $1,000 in tax credits if you buy a "Phill". Phill is a home refueling station for natural gas vehicles. Since many homes already have natural gas coming in, adding a mechanism to allow an owner to fill their car from the gas supply they already have makes perfect sense and very convenient. The combination of home refueling, a clean burning car and good fuel efficiency is definitely very appealing. The only apparent drawback is the limited 200 mile range. If you don't do much long distance driving this could definitely be good option, at least if you live in California or one of the nineteen Honda dealers in New York state that will be selling the car.

[Source: Honda]