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Position Statement

Honda supports the inclusion of natural gas vehicles on EPA's list of alternative fuel vehicles receiving incentives in the 2017 - 2025 CAFE and Greenhouse Gas Standards.  EPA has identified powertrain/fuel combinations that have the potential to lower GHG but have near-term market barriers to overcome, such as infrastructure and market acceptance.  EPA created two categories of incentives:  dedicated (EVs and FCVs) and bifuel (PHEVs).  Honda believes that dedicated natural gas vehicles should receive the dedicated vehicle multiplier, and bifuel natural gas vehicles should receive the bifuel multiplier. 

Alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) technologies can provide significant energy security and greenhouse gas reductions, but face the challenges of infrastructure costs, higher initial vehicle costs and consumer acceptance barriers.  The result is that individual consumers pay higher costs (both in terms of initial vehicle costs and infrastructure costs/convenience), while society benefits from the reduced CO2 and petroleum consumption.  The application of GHG multipliers is a low or no cost policy tool that can encourage OEMs to more aggressively bring these vehicles to market.  Natural Gas Vehicles can have a 25% reduction in CO2 from a similarly configured gasoline vehicle, and a 100% reduction in petroleum consumption.

*For your reference:  A multiplier of 2 means that 1 vehicle counts as if two of them were in our fleet.  This helps lower an OEM’s fleet average and provides a potentially easier path towards compliance:

Honda Civic Natural Gas Facts

The Civic Natural Gas is the only OEM-built, dedicated CNG passenger car assembled in America and the only vehicle certified by the EPA to meet both Federal Tier 2 Bin 2 and Inherently Low Emission Vehicle (ILEV) zero evaporative emission certification standards. Natural Gas is a domestically-sourced fuel that is typically 30-40 percent less expensive compared to gasoline.

Additional facts about the Civic Natural Gas:

• The Civic Natural Gas was named the ‘Green Car of the Year’ by Green Car Journal and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) consistently lists it as one of the ‘greenest vehicles’ in the U.S.
• In California, single occupant HOV (carpool) lane access is extended for Civic Natural Gas through 2015.
• Honda recently announced the expansion of Civic Natural Gas retail sales to 197 dealers in 36 states. The increased availability of the Civic Natural Gas helps bring inherently clean-burning natural gas technology to an even broader audience while also supporting diversity in transportation energy resources.
• Featuring new styling, enhanced feature content and increased fuel economy, the redesigned 2012 Civic Natural Gas can now be equipped with the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System featuring an exclusive database of publicly accessible Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refueling stations across the United States.
• The Civic Natural Gas has a Honda-estimated city/highway/combined fuel economy rating of 27/38/31 miles per gallon (gasoline-gallon equivalent). Compared to the 2011 model, city fuel economy improves by 12.5 percent, and highway fuel economy is up by 5.5 percent.
• The all-new, redesigned 2012 Honda Civic sedan models, including the Civic Natural Gas, received the highest possible safety rating of TOP SAFETY PICK from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) under its more-stringent testing guidelines implemented this year.

Honda Civic Natural Gas Timeline – Decades of Innovation

• 1993 – Task force created to investigate CNG-powered vehicles
• 1995 – Demonstration program with utility companies
• 1998 – Civic Natural Gas (formerly known as Civic GX) launches for fleet sales
• 2003 – PHIL home refueling device launches
• 2005 – Retail sales launched in California
• 2006 – 2010 – Retail sales expand to New York, Utah and Oklahoma
• 2011 – National expansion program announced
• 2012 – Civic Natural Gas launches nationally to 197 dealers in 36 states

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Contact information:

Angie Nucci (310) 781-4443
Jonathan Otto (202) 661-4416

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