cng

2012 Honda Civic GX: Unsung green hero

Electric and hybrid cars grab all the headlines, but Honda's natural gas-powered Civic has been quietly running along, reducing CO2 emissions since 1998.

Of Honda's line of 2012 Civics, people are most likely to be unfamiliar with the Natural Gas version. The public in general is not aware that natural gas can power cars, in addition to heating houses and cooking food. Nor is the average man on the street likely to know that a gallon of natural gas is two-thirds (or less) the cost of a gallon of gasoline. That natural gas emits 30 percent less CO2 than gasoline is another little-known fact.

To spread some knowledge, Honda put me behind the wheel of its 2012 Civic Natural Gas for a drive that included city traffic, freeway merging, and some mountain twisties.… Read more

Most hybrids to lose CA HOV access, electric vehicles can stay

Those yellow Clean Air Vehicle stickers that gave tens of thousands of hybrids access to full-time use of California's carpool lanes are long gone, and the clock is ticking down on the time they're valid. But for a few near zero-emissions vehicles, the HOV lane remains wide open to the single-party driver for another four years.

A recent bill was signed in California extending the amount of time that vehicles meeting California's super ultra-low emission vehicle (SULEV) standard and the federal inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) standard can use the HOV lane with less than the minimum number … Read more

Toyota will show hybrid vehicle fueled by CNG

Toyota will reveal a Camry hybrid concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show with an engine that uses compressed natural gas.

The concept signals that Toyota's hybrid technology will be used with engines that operate on a variety of fuels.

"We are using this as an opportunity to state that we are getting back into CNG R&D and that we are adding CNG to our portfolio of alternative fuels," said John Hanson, a Toyota spokesman. "We see CNG as an alternative fuel for the future, especially considering what we see as a pretty definite … Read more

Gas-guzzler: PGO Cevennes Turbo-CNG debuts in Geneva

Looking like the stunted offspring of a Porsche 911, the PGO Cevennes Turbo-CNG is the latest face of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in Europe. The roadster is motivated by a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which gets it from standing to 62 mph in 6.5 seconds via a six-speed manual transmission.

With an underfloor gas tank, which can be filled with natural gas or biogass, Cevennes Turbo-CNG gets a (literal) gas mileage of around 32 mpg and a range of 300 miles on a full tank. The model will be put into production by its French manufacturer later … Read more