June 13, 2008- Las vegas, NV- The 2009 Honda Civic GX is the next generation alternative fuel, ULTRAlow emissions artillery to combat the war on our of control gas prices and loch-ness footprints.
Initially released in 2005 to California, and specifically targeted national fleets, the GX is now rolling out nationwide as a 2009 fall release. The GX will sticker for around 25k, and the home-based refilling unit called; PHILL, will set you back another 5000.00 when you cover the installation. HOWEVER, with the tax credits from state, and fedral authorities, you can cover most of the 5k. The cost of Natural Gas from your home spout (pressurized to 3600psi) works out to be less than a 1.25 a gallon, as long as NG stays cheap. Even then, the CIVIC GX gets a respectable 32 and 37 MPG, so the effective cost per gallon is really pretty low.
According to Honda:”The GX has everything you’d expect from a Civic, like the highest safety rating, proven performance and Honda durability.But this is the GX, which means it’s powered by natural gas and has been named the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle on Earth by the EPA.”
The drawbacks are: the range is 200 miles. It’s strictly a short-hop, commuter car, cause when you “run out of gas”… you are in tow home mode. The trunk is small, half the size of a hybrid Civic. Limited public fueling spots make a home unit an absolute necessity. Those who have driven it (I haven’t yet) say it is no rice-rocket, but the high you get from your wallet, and driving in the HOV lane (in some states) is worth the lack luster 0-60.
I’ll keep you posted on where and when you can get one at a reasonable price.
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interesting, i’ll stick with american
Having a home fueling unit is not a necessity, but it is convenient and can save money versus buying fuel at commercial stations.
In California there are plenty of commercial stations. We had our first GX for about a year before getting a home pump. You can go just about anywhere in the state and find fuel. It does require a little planning, though. Long trips require a little more thought and planning. http://www.cngprices.com is a great resource for CNG prices and station status.
You can’t find a GX for what many people would consider a ‘reasonable price’ any more. Since CNG is especially cheap in Utah, anything that runs on it is being bid up by people there. Dealers are asking $2000-$5000 over sticker for new GXs (which are already $5000 more than a regular Civic DX) and used GX prices have shot up in the last 6 months.
There are various Fords and Chevys and other American labels out there that use CNG, too.
The Civic GX is built in the US.
What Fords or Chevys use CNG? GM told me they don’t make anything that runs on CNG.
I live in Oklahoma where there is an ample supply of natural gas available for purchase to power vehicles, there are no such vehicles available for purchase by the public but has been limited to fleet purchase. The technology has been available for several years but for some reason American automakers have been reluctant to allow the general public the option of purchasing cng vehicles except on a very limited basis.
If American automakers want be successful in this country again, they have to provide the vehicles the American people want and not the gas guzzlers they are having a hard time unloading now. I believe they should covert the plants they are shutting down to producing cng vehicles and electric vehicles to save jobs and better serve the American people. The people want more fuel efficient and alternate fuel vehicles which American automakers could provide with the existing technology but choose not to. If they choose to wait until the masses purchase cng cars from Honda then it will be too late for them.
I just bought a 2009 Honda Civic GX in Salt Lake City for $1000 *below* MSRP. The dealer had several in stock and I got to choose the color I wanted. I drove it back to Colorado (had to have a tow between Rock Springs and Cheyenne to guarantee I could make it to the next fueling station). On the trip, I got 43-44 mpgge (miles per gas gallon equivalent)after the new engine had run a few hundred miles. There aren’t very many fueling stations here yet, but I know well were they are and we plan our commute to include filling up every few days. The federal and state tax credits should offset the extra cost of the vehicle over a regular gas-burning Civic. And the Civic GX sticker says 60% was manufactured in the US and assembled in Ohio.
You know, if as much money were to go into CNG infrastructure as is going into ethanol (E85) production and distribution, we could significantly cut the amount of imported oil. By the way, ethanol production requires the use of diesel and gas to plant, cultivate, and harvest corn. It seems to me to be all about farm subsidies rather than oil conservation. The technology for CNG is well established. Manufacturing uses the same production lines as regular automobiles. The only difference is the fuel system. CNG makes sense today if only we (as consumers) were to demand it.