Energy Finance

Compressed natural gas (CNG) may very well be the ”new” alternative transportation fuel, at least in the U.S. It’s plentiful, it’s clean, and new R&D efforts have been quietly making inroads into providing new engine and refill technology to please even the most spoiled consumer.

Right now, consumers in California and New York can buy the CNG-fueled Honda Civic GX to use as their everyday vehicle. 

Civic GX owners can purchase their own CNG home-refueling appliance, called Phill, which installs to a home-based natural gas line. With Phill, GX owners can fill up at home, instead of having to go to a gas station.

Phill is a compact unit (30″ x 14″ x 14″) that connects a homeowner’s gas line to the refill unit that hangs on the wall of the garage.

According to Honda, Phill is as safe and quiet as a clothes dryer. It’s equipped with several built-in features, like a methane detector, which can monitor for unlikely leaks and automatically shut down the system if necessary.

While refueling the GX may take up to 16 hours if the tank is virtually empty, the process can be more convenient than going to a gas station if the tank is filled up each night.

A full tank of gas supplies the GX with a driving range of about 220–250 miles.

The CNG tank is lightweight, strong, and has an in-tank solenoid valve that will cut off the flow of gas if the system is compromised, or when the engine is turned off

Although CNG is not normally measured in liquid gallons, for price comparisons, the price can be as low as $1.29 per gallon.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the Honda Civic GX as the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle. Plus, the California Air Resources Board gave the GX an AT-PZEV emissions rating, which also means it’s the cleanest.

The car has a 113-hp, 1.8-Liter, 16-Valve, SOHC i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine.  CNG mileage is 24 in the city, 36 on the highway. The starting price for the car is $24,590.

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