Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Somebody mentioned that I should have gotten it. You can add the fill up gizmo to your NG hook up at home. I think the thing is $4K or so. There are NG fill up places locally and it cost's something like $1.20 per gallon comparatively. Plus life time carpool access. It only goes 200 miles per tank but that'd be NP for me. It'd be kinda nice thinking that the Fed's couldn't just pull the plug on the carpool thing when they feel like it, like they can with the Hybrid.(here in CA anyway) It looks like the car would be about $30K with the fill up gizmo.
Anyone think it'd be worth it? Maybe something to think about down the road. :D

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

The range of 200 miles wasn't enough for me. I see people with them just never had the chance to speak with them.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Low range and lack of stations was the deal-stopper for me. I had investigated supplemental tanks (one fits into the spare tire opening!), but you'd still have issues travelling in remote areas. I don't do that often, but I still like the freedom of knowing I can take the car on vacation if I want to. For now, the hybrid makes more sense for me. Maybe when the HOV lane access goes away I'll think differently!

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

I seriously considered the GX before hybrids became eligible for the HOV lane. Getting the stickers is the number one consideration for me, so if the hybrid law hadn't passed the GX was a sure bet.

However, my wife who is the main driver of this vehicle, is apprehensive about carrying a tank of compressed natural gas in the car, so we opted for the hybrid.

The Phill home filling gas pump, at $3000-4000 is an outrage. It certainly makes no sense economically. It would probably take at least ten years to recover that $3000 cost through the difference between CNG price at a filling station and at home. Also, consider that the price difference may be an illusion because the Phill consumes electricity to compress the gas. You have to figure in the cost of the electricity.

There are plenty of CNG filling stations in our area, so availability is not much of an issue. But the range of 200 miles compared to 500 in the HCH is a bit of an inconvenience. And I think the trunk space in the GX is even smaller than in the HCH because of the CNG tank behind the back seat.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

I considered it back when I bought my 04HCH1.
I'm not sure why I held back.
I think the garage fill up station was new and I was nervous about new stuff.

Do they even make it with 2006 body?

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Yup.
http://automobiles.honda.com/models/...lName=Civic+GX

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Also, I'm wondering if this 200 miles on a tank is some kind of an inflated EPA estimate and similar to the hybrid EPA mileage i.e. if you drive the car hard it only gets say 150 miles to the tank?

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

If you could run it on propane instead of CNG, it'd be no problem to drive it in Maryland. I don't think there's a single public-access CNG filling station in the state, although the government must own a few since I've seen some State cars that run on CNG.

But Propane. . . Lemme tell ya: every BJ's Wholesale and Sam's Club has all kinds of propane filling options.

I like the CNG concept, but my townhouse doesn't have a covered garage. If I got Phill, the hoodies would use the outlet to burn down my house for the sport of it.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Yes there are.
http://www.dgs.maryland.gov/cngFacilities/indexCNG.htm

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

The most impressive aspect of the GX' engineering is that it weighs more than itself! According to the specifications, the percent distribution (front/rear) is 59%/61%. It weighs 120% of itself!

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

It doesn't appear to have the navigation option. Bummer. However, it would work for me but on those times when I go to San Diego, I'd run out of fuel.

How long does it take to fill a tank? What is the demand level for these things?


Thanks,
Shawn

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

CNG is a good way to go if you can find one. They still qualify for the carpool lanes and according to a good friend who works at one of the larger transit agencies in the area said that once hydrogen fuel takes hold here (probably 5 years) it is a very easy conversion to make a cng vehicle accept hydrogen fuel. They are purchasing all of their new fleet vehicles with this in mind.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

At a filling station it takes about as long as filling a tank of gasoline. You just have to know where there are filling stations along your route. There are web sites that list all the locations. Filling at home using the Phill device can take several hours.

The demand and the numbers sold are very small - in the hundreds. I suspect that the carpool stickers for hybrids in California are a GX killer. But they weren't selling much before the stickers either.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Somebody said the wait is about a year for one of these. That seems a little far fetched ;) Apparently they are as peppy as a regular LX. If you drive it hard I'm sure the mileage is less than the claimed 200 miles. They apparently take all night(??) to fill at home.

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

I live in an apartment building so I would have no option to refill at home.

Thanks,
Shawn

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

Just hook it up to your stove and run a tube out the window ;)

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

To all on this thread:

Don't forget that there are tax incentives for installing the phill. I believe that after those it actually costs 1K. Plus the GX has the largest tax credit of any vehicle out there.

But, I was not impressed with the new one. It looks poorly equipped for the (inflated) price. The base is more than the hybrid while being equipped somewhere in between a DX and LX from what I can tell. I think it only has two speakers?

Re: Did you think about the Civic GX NGV??
 

I was waffling on the GX vs. the hybrid and it came down to the research that I did was that the California Utilities were attempting to charge a different rate for fueling from home. The natural gas for the vehicle needed to be "cleaner" therefore would cost more similar to market going rates for gasoline. Also the resale values of GX's were not that great and the mileage per tank was awful. To get decent tank mileage, the tank would need to be replaced with a high compression one which would eliminate half of the trunk. While there are a number of hi-compression fueling stations most are low pressure meaning that it can take 10-20 minutes to fill the tank just to travel a max of 200 miles with a standard tank.

Once Hybrids were allowed onto the carpool lane, that sealed the deal for me.

Jesse