Natural-gas Civics on the way
Sunday March 19, 2006
I've been a big fan of Honda's compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Civic GX ever since 2001 when I reviewed one for Tropical Bob Bowden's web site, The Car Judge. CNG is cleaner and, believe it or not, safer than gasoline. Honda has recently announced the GX version of the 2006 Civic (though as of today their consumer web site only has info about the 2005 version), and I'll try to get one for a test drive in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, check out Hybrid Cars guide Eric Powers' review of the all-new 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, along with his article that answers the burning question: Can the Civic Hybrid run on electric power alone? -- Aaron Gold
Comments
I can’t believe anyone would support (CNG) vehicles,their resale is 0 because you can’t buy fuel anywhere,these things are selling at auctions for pennys on the dollar,these things are as big a joke as these overpriced HYBRIDS.
Your point about availability of NG is true; however these come with a home filler tank that installs in your garage and plugs into your house’s NG system. If it’s used strictly for commuting and the small trips that are 80% of most people’s use of a car, then filling it up at home each night works just fine. It’s not meant to be anyone’s only car. Why drive an SUV for short 10 mile trips - just use that for the big family trips that you take a few times/year. I drive my SUV about once every 3 months, otherwise I drive my hybrid (with a 100 mile daily commute, it makes sense and I pay $75/month on gas vs. $380/month on gas with same commute with my SUV).
For what it’s worth, I never had to drive more than 5-10 mins out of my way to find a public CNG filling station. But DebS’ point about home fueling is also a good one. I believe the device is called a Phill, and you can get it along with your Civic GX.
I think its okay for work and home if your job is just a few miles away vut to drive around town i don’t think so. But i will be taking a ride to vegas in it ill return w/the results on how it was finding a cng station along the way
Concerning the fill stations availability. wher on the web can I find a list of refill stations (cng) for a given area or state, is there such a list available?