Is The Natural Gas Honda Civic The Only True Green Car?

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Dec 112011
 

2012 Honda Civic

One of the least known Honda Civic alternative fuel vehicles is the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) vehicle. Environmentalists are all smiling about their hybrids and how much less fuel they use and how eco-friendly they all are for using electricity instead of gas. Well, the CNG Honda Civic is a hundred times more environmentally friendly on its worst day.

Why? The plants that produce the electricity used in a hybrid must burn oil, coal, or use a nuclear reaction to provide it. CNG comes from the ground and is easier to drill for than oil, so does not impact the Earth as much during extraction. A CNG vehicle’s carbon footprints is the size of an ant’s next to a hybrid’s. The Civic Natural Gas vehicle is the cleanest-running internal combustion engine ever certified by the Environmental Protection Agency.

What about fuel economy you may ask. How about a Honda Civic that offers 38 mpg and 240 miles between fill ups? Not bad at all. Then there is the time it takes to refuel. Minutes for a CNG Civic. How many hours for your plug-in hybrid or EV? Hours, isn’t it?

Now the other shoe falls. There is a decided lack of infrastructure for the CNG Civic. Refueling stations are rare, even more rare than commercial recharge stations for electric vehicles. A CNG refueling point costs more to install than a traditional gas station, as well. The federal government is considering offering companies incentives and funds to develop CNG infrastructure. The end goal of some investors is to see CNG points next to traditional gas pumps, just like diesel is today.

The Honda Civic CNG was introduced in 1998. Honda has sold few vehicles to the general public, but has enjoyed limited success with municipal fleets. The car was awarded the 2012 Green Car of the Year Award. Hopefully, the added attention will hep to bring the vehicle more into the mainstream.

 Posted by Jerry at 8:03 pm  Tagged with: , ,

CEO Ito Accepts Responsibility For Lackluster 2012 Honda Civic

 Cars, News  No Responses »
Dec 042011
 

2012 Honda Civic

The 2012 Honda Civic has been far from a critical or sales success. Critics express their displeasure with words and buyers have been expressing their displeasure by not buying Civics. During an interview at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito accepted responsibility for the poor performance of the Civic and vowed that his company would improve the car in the very near future.

U.S. sales of the Honda Civic are down 14.8% from last year’s mark, through the first ten months of 2011. Granted, inventory levels were down due to the twin disasters in Japan, but the Civic is showing no signs of life now that inventory levels are close to pre-disaster levels. Given that caveat, Honda’s design team admits dropping the ball and that the Civic’s current design is ”dull and uninspiring.”

Honda creative director Yoshinori Asahi was recently quoted as saying,” In the past few years the cars have been a bit boring.” Ito attempted to explain the lack of new design features by blaming market research that indicated Americans would accept more cheaply made cars during the recent recession, if they were fuel efficient. The company should seriously consider firing the group that performed that market research and examine their own inability to consider that the economy could turnaround before the 2012 Civic hit dealer’s lots.

Honda is hinting at a dramatic change for mid-cycle in 2013. A near complete redesign was scheduled for 2014, but sales for the Civic are so low and complaints so common that Honda has bumped that up a year. American Honda President John Mendel said that the company has been ” appropriately energized” to update and revamp the Civic.

1973 Honda Civic RS

The 2012 Honda Civic is being further crippled by its competitors. Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Kia have all released cars in direct competition with the Civic, but their offerings include updated tech features and, in some cases, better fuel economy. Given the current market, Honda needs to get something done quickly or the iconic Civic may need to be shelved.

 Posted by Jerry at 10:12 am  Tagged with:
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