Honda Cars : Honda FCX Clarity Stars in Fuel Cell Vehicle Program Commercial | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Cars : Americans Say EVs Are the Way to Go, According to Honda [Video] | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

If you thought the American public was generally misinformed and ignorant, you’d be wrong, as according to a recent video posted online by Honda, they have strong opinions and are generally informed about ‘green tech’ and the future of motoring.

Honda’s poll was conducted with 1,000 people from the US, and it was discovered that 37% of people think that pure EVs are the way to go into the future, with regular gasoline and biofuel tying for second place with 19%, hydrogen coming 4th with 13%, and natural gas (surprisingly) coming last with 12% of people considering it ‘the fuel of future’.

People were also asked what was the threshold when it came to gas prices which would determine them to ‘go green’ and purchase an alternatively-fueled vehicle. Of the people questioned, 60% said they would opt for a ‘green’ alternative if the price of gas would surpass the the $6 (€4.78) per gallon mark, with 30% saying they would make the swap if prices passed the $5 (€3.98) per gallon mark. Curiously, 15% of people said they would never buy a fuel sipper, no matter how draconic the oil industry would become - a very odd and surprising statistic.

The video also proves that Americans have heard of aerodynamics, though too many of them fail on the question of whether or not to keep the windows up or down on the highway to maximize efficiency.

Source;
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/americans-say-evs-are-the-way-to-go-according-to-honda-video-45872.html

Honda Cars : What are the advantages of the Honda diesel power train for cars? | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

As the demand to adapt to greener lifestyles and environmentally-cleaner ways of living is increasing, there are a growing number of motorists opting for cars that are cleaner to the environment and more fuel-efficient. As Honda are widely acclaimed for pioneering the way in ‘greener’ forms of vehicles, if you are on the market for an eco-friendly car, the chances are you are considering one from Honda.

To help you understand the interior complexities of what makes Honda’s eco cars as beneficial as they are it is important to look at the manufacturer’’ development across all areas of the motor industry.

Between 2004 and 2009 the Tier II emission standard regulations were phased in in the United States. Within the Tier II ranking, there is a sub-rating which ranges from BIN 1 – 10, with 10 being the dirtiest emissions that a vehicle can emit into the atmosphere and 1 being the cleanest and is a Zero Emission Vehicle.

In 2007 the U.S. implemented new Tier II Bin 5 regulations and in order to comply with these regulations Honda announced the development of a diesel power train that is as clean as a traditional gasoline vehicle.

So what exactly are the advantages of the Honda diesel power train for cars?

Diesel is more fuel efficient than gasoline engines
With the price of petrol now at unprecedented levels, budget-conscious motorists are increasingly looking for alternatives to petrol driven vehicles. As diesel engines are approximately 30% more fuel efficient than petrol, diesel cars have always been a popular alternative for motorists wanting to see their fuel go further. Is this sense Honda cars that are powered by an impressive diesel power train, are more fuel efficient than many of the vehicles that do not have this system.

Less greenhouse emissions
As diesel cars are notoriously harmful to the environment, spewing out greater amounts of harmful gases than petrol cars, you may be wondering how Honda vehicles that are powered by a diesel power train are environmentally friendly.

Honda’s innovative technology is based on a system that both generates and stores ammonia in a two-layered catalytic converter. The converter then turns the harmful greenhouse gas nitrogen oxide produced by the diesel into harmless nitrogen.

Carbon emissions are also heavily reduced in a number of Honda’s new hybrid creations. These combine an electric motor with a traditional combustion engine to offer drivers the performance of a conventional car with the environmental benefits of an electric vehicle.

Requires no heavy add-ons
Despite car manufacturers DaimlerChrysler having already started developing a similar process, Honda claim that its own system is superior as it is a lot less complex and does not require any heavy add-ons to make ammonia from area-based additives. This gives motorists the chance to protect the environment with as little impact on their finances and lifestyle as possible, making these cars the perfect choice.

Source;
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/111971/what-are-the-advantages-of-the-honda-diesel-power-train-for-cars-.aspx

Honda Cars : Shrawan Raja of Indian Auto Blog Updates Honda's Diesel Situation | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

-Thanks for the tip Shrawan!

Sources have told IndianAutosBlog.com that Honda is working on a 1.2-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine that produces between 70-80bhp for application on its two mini cars Brio and Jazz.

The 1.2L engine is said to be the smallest member of the ‘EarthDreams’ brand and is likely to be ready next year. Honda could have specifically developed this engine for the Indian market which is predominantly a diesel car country. Due to its low displacement, fuel economy is expected to reach close to 25kmpl in the ARAI tests.

Honda’s future programs include the successor to the Honda Jazz, shown back in late 2007, and a minimum of one additional variant on the Brio platform. The Brio platform could be used to construct a sedan featuring different body panels and design. The smaller engine, at least on paper, is perfectly matched to these compact cars. The two projects could be in the different stages of their development now and reach the market in the next two-three years.

Honda has not commented on the development of the smaller diesel engine. Honda officials have told some media channels in the recent past that a diesel engine is under development but they are yet to identify the cars on which it shall be used.

Source;
http://indianautosblog.com/2012/03/honda-1-2l-diesel-engine-brio-jazz-2013

Honda Cars : No Accord & CR-V diesels for the Indian market says, Honda’s Jnaneswar Sen | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

For quite some time now, Honda has been selling diesel engined variants of the Honda Accord sedan and the CR-V crossover in the European market. The engine in question is a 2.2 liter, four cylinder turbo diesel unit, which in different states of tune, has been powering the Accord and the CR-V. In India though, Honda has been steadfastly avoiding the option of offering the Accord and the CR-V with the diesel engine stating that this engine is not suitable for the Indian market due to the quality of diesel available in India not matching European standards, to which this engine is said to be designed.

Here’s what Honda SIEL Cars India’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, Jnaneswar Sen has had to say about why Honda will not launch a diesel engined Accord or CR-V,
While it is technically possible to downgrade both these engines, the low volumes of the Accord and CR-V (in India) do not justify it. Also the engines for the European market have been developed taking into account the low sulphur content in the diesel there, unlike in India.
That said, the prescribed standard for ultra low sulphur diesel for most of the European Union confirming to Euro V emission norms is 10 ppm(parts per million), the ultra low sulphur available in India from 2010 confirms to 15 ppm, which is very close to the EU figure. All in all, this news would come as a dampener to many prospective Accord and CR-V buyers, who for long have been hoping for diesel engined variants of these cars. One factor however, could work in favor of the Accord and CR-V in the future.

Honda is said to be developing a more powerful version of the 1.6 liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine with EarthDreams technology, that was recently showcased at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The more powerful version of this engine, pumping out 160 Bhp and 349 Nm is said to be aimed at replacing the current 2.2 Liter diesel engine. If that happens, Honda’s bad Indian diesel talk might not be a valid reason anymore in case the 1.6 Liter i-DTEC engine powers the 2012 Honda Civic in India as well.

For now though, Honda’s current focus seems to be on small capacity diesel engines that could power the likes of the Brio and the Jazz in the Indian market, and more importantly these cars would bring in the much needed volumes for the car maker. However, it remains to be seen how well Honda manages to adapt the under-development diesel engines to work with Indian diesel, for that would make or break the brand, highly renowned for its engine technology globally, in the Indian car market.

Source;
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/honda-accord-cr-v-2012-diesel-india-57299/

Honda Cars : Honda Looks to U.S. Dealers to Boost Natural Gas Station Network | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Motor Co. (7267), the only automaker selling compressed natural gas-powered cars to U.S. drivers, wants some of its dealers to also install pumps to sell the fuel as its seeks to double sales of CNG vehicles.

Boosting sales of Indiana-built Civic Natural Gas sedans requires more fuel stations, Steve Center, U.S. vice president for environmental business development, said in an interview. Honda is negotiating with regulators in California, the biggest U.S. market for CNG vehicles, seeking to have pumps placed at two or more Honda dealerships this year, he said yesterday.

“If the dealer had a fueling station, it would really reduce some of that concern for the customer,” Center said at Honda’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California. “It’s not our place to create infrastructure, but it’s a chicken-and-egg situation and we’re going to have to nurse that egg along.”

Honda’s strategy of marketing autos powered by natural gas, a domestically sourced fuel that’s cheaper than gasoline and emits less tailpipe exhaust, comes as U.S.-based competitors plan their own CNG models. General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC this week both said they’re readying pickups that will run on the fuel.

The U.S. yesterday raised its forecast for natural gas output in 2012 by 0.4 percent and lowered its outlook for prices. Marketed gas production will average 67.91 billion cubic feet a day in 2012, up from 67.64 billion estimated in February, the Energy Department said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, released in Washington.

Unanswered Questions
The equivalent of a gallon of compressed natural gas cost an average of $2.13 in January, compared with $3.37 for regular gasoline, according to the Energy Department.

The International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles says on its website there were 1,000 stations and 112,000 natural gas vehicles in the U.S. as of December 2010.

“We’re adding stations rapidly,” said Richard Kolodziej, president of NGV America, a Washington-based trade group that lobbies for natural gas vehicles. “ If you are in an area where there aren’t any fueling stations, this is a great option,” he said of Honda’s plan.

Currently, 270 U.S. Honda dealers plan to sell the Civic Natural Gas, a revamped version of the Civic GX compact sold since the 1990s. The Tokyo-based carmaker’s initial goal is to sell “4,000 to 5,000” CNG vehicles annually, double the previous rate, Center said. Honda builds the model at its Greensburg, Indiana, plant.

‘Fill in Holes’
Details such as the cost of a CNG station at a dealership, how many vehicles it could serve a day and how many such facilities may be established are still being studied, Center said. Honda can work with dealers to obtain needed permits, apply for public incentives and provide financing, he said.

“Something like this helps fill in holes,” Center said. “We want to select a couple of test cases and walk through it.”

Honda hasn’t determined how many such dealer fuel stations may be opened in California and other states, he said. Center, whose previous assignments at Honda included managing U.S. advertising and Acura sales, said part of his new job includes finding uses for environmentally friendly technologies developed by the company.

The Civic Natural Gas sedan costs $26,155, or $2,100 more than a hybrid version of the compact model. The car was named 2012 Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles auto show in November.

The car averages 31 miles per gallon equivalent of fuel, and holds the equivalent of 8 gallons of compressed gas. Incentives for owners in California include a permit allowing a driver without passengers to use highway carpool lanes.

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-03-07/honda-looks-to-u-s-dealers-to-boost-natural-gas-station-network.html

Honda Cars : Plan to add pumps may boost natural gas autos | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

This is great news for people that own Natural Gas Civic's!
By Alan Sayre
New Orleans —The United States has record supplies of natural gas and plenty of reasons to promote natural-gas powered cars. But so far, consumers, manufacturers and fuel suppliers haven't shown much interest.

Now, a major natural gas developer's plans to vastly increase the number of truck stops that offer liquid natural gas could help boost its use in the vehicles that burn the most fuel, while promoting its availability to a wider market.

Lots of natural gas is available, if U.S. drivers decide to use it. In just a few years, domestic natural gas supplies have increased by trillions of cubic feet through shale finds, boosting the supply to the point where plans are in place to export part of the overflow.

The growth of natural gas vehicles in the United States so far has been dominated by fleets of buses, taxis and garbage haulers. Only one natural gas car is commercially produced in the country: the Honda Civic GX, recently renamed the NG. It has sold a grand total of about 13,000 in 13 years of production.

The reasons for the lackluster sales of natural gas cars are many: The fuel is only available at a handful of public stations, tethering the vehicles within a certain distance of a fuel source. And even though the pump price of natural gas can run $1 to $2 less per gallon equivalent than gasoline, natural gas vehicles carry a higher sticker price.

The focus for the natural gas vehicle industry in the United States has been the fuel-guzzlers: commercial vehicles, especially tractor-trailer rigs.

Rich Kolodziej, president of the trade association NGV America, says that makes sense in terms of overall fuel usage. He said a driver who puts 12,000 miles a year on a car at 25 miles to the gallon will use about 500 gallons of gasoline annually. But a diesel-driven 18-wheeler can easily go 120,000 miles a year. At six miles per gallon, that comes to 20,000 gallons.

"If you're trying to reduce foreign imports of oil, you're trying to reduce greenhouse gases and emissions in urban areas, where do you put your effort? You put it on the big vehicles," Kolodziej said.

For reasons of tank space, liquid natural gas is used by commercial trucks, while compressed natural gas is the fuel of choice for cars.

According to the international trade association NGV Global, there are 12.7 million natural gas vehicles in the world, including 6.8 million in the Asia-Pacific rim, 4.2 million in Latin America, 1.4 million in Europe, and 122,000 in Africa.

The U.S. has just 112,000 of them — less than 1 percent of the global total, and less than a tenth of 1 percent of the 253.7 million vehicles in the U.S.

Most of them are in fleets.

"The big reason that they work well for fleets and not the average person on the street is that most fleet vehicles are used for relatively short trips," said John O'Dell, senior editor of Edmunds.com, which follows the vehicle industry. "They go back to the barn in the evening where they have a refueling station that can handle them.

"There is not a really good fueling system in this country," O'Dell added. "You have to have the infrastructure out there to convince people to buy natural gas cars."

Kolodziej said that there are about 180,000 gasoline stations — and only about 1,000 locations to fill up with natural gas.

But that may be changing.

The T. Boone Pickens-backed Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is embarking on a major expansion of natural gas fueling and plans to add liquefied natural gas pumps at 150 truck stops nationwide over the next 24 to 36 months.

"We've mapped out a strategy to cover every major interstate in the domestic United States," said Clean Energy Fuels chief marketing officer James Harger.

Harger and other natural gas proponents are putting stock in pending congressional legislation that would provide tax credits to cover 80 percent of the cost difference between a liquid natural gas tractor-trailer and a diesel. Harger said the five-year bill probably would cost about $1 billion a year. The U.S. spends over $1 billion a day on foreign oil.

"This will help jump-start this industry," he said.

Source;
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20111229/AUTO01/112290345/Plan-add-pumps-may-boost-natural-gas-autos

Honda Cars : Honda FCX Clarity debuts in UK at the EcoVelocity Show | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

by Abhishek Chaliha

The hydrogen powered next generation Honda FCX Clarity has been around for a couple of years now and it makes electric cars look like dinosaurs. Read on to know more about the vehicle that is undoubtedly the future of motoring

Honda’s advanced FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car is the world’s first production fuel cell car. This zero emissions vehicle is as practical and convenient as a fossil fuel powered car. The car runs on hydrogen and the only end product is water. But unlike electric cars that have a confined driving range limited by the battery and take an eternity to charge the FCX Clarity can be refuelled at a hydrogen filling station just the way a gasoline powered car is refuelled, it takes about the same time to fill up its hydrogen tank as it takes to fill up a normal fuel tank.



The vehicle is based on an entirely new fuel cell platform called Honda V Flow which is powered by an efficient, highly compact and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack. This new fuel cell stack by Honda featured huge improvements over weight, efficiency, driving range and power over that of other fuel cell stacks. The new fuel cell stack and hydrogen motor have overcome all the drawbacks of a traditional hydrogen vehicle, which means that the FCX Clarity looks like a normal car with none of the drawbacks of a car that uses alternative sources of fuel. With the FCX Clarity Honda have proved the real world performance and appeal of a hydrogen powered car can be the same as that of a traditional car powered by fossil fuel. The Honda FCX Clarity has a range of 432 kilometres on a single tank of fuel.

The reason for the failure of electric cars and hybrids is because they fail to meet the real world practicality and performance of a gasoline powered car. Electric cars have a terrible driving range and have poor cabin space because of all the batteries packed in here and there. Hybrids prove no point at all as there are small diesel cars that are more economical. The ride, handling and performance of these vehicles are not at all good due to heavy batteries and uneven weight distribution.

The Honda FCX Clarity has none of those drawbacks. The hydrogen motor upfront has only one moving part so reliability will be very good. The performance of the vehicle is at par with other four door family sedans of its size. In short the FCX Clarity will do to the gasoline powered family car what it has been doing to electric cars, it renders the other completely useless.

The FCX Clarity uses compressed hydrogen from its hydrogen tank and combines atmospheric oxygen in the fuel stack where energy from the reaction is converted into electricity to power the electric motor which drives the wheels of the car. The main components of the car include an electric motor, hydrogen tank, fuel cell stack and a battery pack. All the components have been made compact and distributed throughout the vehicle for optimising space, comfort and drive dynamics.

As with any invention initially the cost of the product is high. But given a mass production of these vehicles the FCX Clarity will cost the same as a normal four door family sedan to buy and maintain. Hydrogen is one of the most abundant substances in the atmosphere but it is very complex and expensive to extract from the atmosphere and store. Once technology develops and can extract and store hydrogen on a large scale there will be no looking back, hydrogen is the fuel of the future. As of now it is only limited by technology.



The Honda FCX Clarity was made available to the public on lease for a fixed amount of time in the United States of America and Japan, so that customers could experience the car over a period of time. Elsewhere in the world it did not make its presence felt primarily due to the lack of hydrogen filling stations. Between the 8th and 11th of September 2011 it will make its UK debut in the low carbon motor festival called the EcoVelocity Show. Alongside the FCX Clarity will be Honda’s range of eco-friendly hybrid cars, the Jazz Hybrid, CR-Z and the Insight. Visitors will get a chance to test drive these cars on a ‘just turn up’ basis. The EcoVelocity Show held at Battersea Power Station will showcase to prospective buyers the latest in eco-friendly automobile technology.

Source;

http://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/news/honda-fcx-clarity-debuts-in-uk-at-the-ecovelocity-show/9401/2

Honda Cars : Daimler and Honda most likely for fuel cells | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Boulder, Colorado – Daimler and Honda are most likely to bring light-duty fuel cell vehicles (FCV) to market, according to a new report by Pike Research. The study found that several of the major global automakers have aggressive programs to develop a commercial FCV as part of their suite of sustainable vehicles, while others have pulled back and a few new players have entered the arena.



“Automakers will continue to refine their products between now and the 2014/2015 deadline for commercial launch,” said senior analyst Lisa Jerram. “In order to meet this target, the OEMs must continue to test and refine their fuel cell systems as well as the vehicle integration and optimization. They will also be focused on driving down vehicle costs.”



Jerram said that Daimler attained the highest overall score in the report as it has laid out a clear path to producing a commercially viable FCV. Other contributing factors include its strong relationships with infrastructure and government partners, and its recent announcement to partner with Linde on infrastructure development, but it has made ambitious announcements on fuel cell technology readiness in the past that did not come to fruition.



Honda is the runner-up in the study based on the high-quality execution of its Clarity FCV, its efforts to lay the groundwork for a commercial launch and its continued public commitment to FCV commercialization, although Pike noted the Clarity’s slow rollout.



Source;

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/daimler-and-honda-most-likely-for-fuel-cells

Honda Cars : Natural-gas-powered Honda Civic can stay in California carpool lane | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By JAKE LINGEMAN on 7/11/2011
Honda Civic GX drivers in California are smiling this week as they continue to have access to the high-occupancy-vehicle lane, even with just one person in the car. Even though one-occupant hybrid cars have lost access to the carpool lane, natural-gas-powered vehicles get to use it for another four years.

Beginning on July 1, yellow-stickered partial hybrids were banned from HOV areas on the highways unless they carried the mandated number of people. Natural-gas-powered cars and fully electric cars with the super-ultralow-emission-vehicle notation get a white sticker. Both the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Roadster also fit the mold.

Demand for the natural-gas-powered Honda is up, with sales tripling over the same period last year. Owners of no-longer-exempt cars have gone to dealerships in droves trying to snatch up the remaining copies, new or used. Dave Conant, owner of Conant Auto Retail Group, told Automotive News that he found only one or two used models that were available as of last week.

Unfortunately for Honda, and for HOV-lane drivers, the 2012 Civic NGV won't be ready until the fall. It has a 1.8-liter engine capable of delivering 110 hp and 106 lb-ft of torque. It gets 31 mpg combined in the gasoline-gallon equivalent. New interior features include a multi-information display and, for the first time, navigation.

The price of natural gas historically has been about 30 percent less per gasoline-gallon-equivalent compared with gasoline.

Source;

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110711/CARNEWS/110719982

Honda Cars : Honda UK: Honda joins Clean Energy Partnership with 2 FCX Clarity vehicles | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda and the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) have announced today that Honda will become the newest member of the CEP programme, providing further impetus to the hydrogen movement in Europe.

CEP is Europe's leading fuel cell vehicle and hydrogen infrastructure demonstration project, bringing together expertise from vehicle manufacturers, infrastructure and energy companies, and the German Government. CEP is designed to prepare the ground for market entry of hydrogen mobility in Europe.

Honda has been running fuel cell electric vehicles on European roads since 2009 and will support CEP activities with 2 FCX Clarity fuel cell electric vehicles.

Ken Keir, Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Europe said, "Honda firmly believes that hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are the ultimate solution in reducing CO2 emissions from road transportation. Participation within CEP with the ground breaking FCX Clarity will demonstrate the viability of fuel cell technology and will also support the essential development of a European hydrogen refuelling infrastructure."

Honda joins the Partnership at the same time as the industrial gas supply company, Air Liquide, demonstrating CEP's value in bringing together vehicle manufacturers and energy companies to support the development of hydrogen based mobility in Europe.

Dr. Klaus Bonhoff, Chairman & Managing Director of NOW GmbH1, remarked: "The CEP is the NIP's2 nucleus for preparing the market for future proof mobility based on hydrogen and fuel cells. The partnership's continuous growth clearly demonstrates the industry's commitment to making zero-emissions mobility possible. We have to cooperate internationally to achieve this, which makes the addition of Air Liquide and Honda to the CEP all the more important. "

Ends


Editors Notes

1 NOW GmbH: National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology whose mission is to coordinate and manage market preparation programmes for products and applications based on hydrogen, fuel cell and battery electric powertrain technology. NOW is a German state organisation. It is wholly owned by the federal government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS).
2 NIP: The German National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, run by Federal Ministry of Transportation

Source;
http://www.hondanews.eu/en/news/index.pmode/modul,detail,0,1828-DEFAULT,21,text,1/index.pmode

Honda Cars : Honda finally wakes up – Honda City to come in a Diesel Variant by 2013-14 | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

This will not be for the North American market, the Honda City is a vehicle that would go between the Honda FIT and the Civic and is available predomininatly in India. However, with Honda now having a 2nd diesel engine in their 'repetoire', some day (wishfull thinking) we may see a diesel Honda here!
Late Latif and prone to mistakes, Honda (well, you know. Look at the Honda Jazz) has finally had to face reality. With competition in the segment it has dominated since the last few years getting more and more stiff, Honda has decided to finally power its segment winner with a diesel mill.

Honda had already started seeing a decline in sales of the City with the launch of Volkswagen’s Vento. Analysts say that Honda’s sales figures with the City would have been much higher in the previous two booming sales years had a diesel option been made available to the buyer. Lately with the launch of Maruti Suzuki’s Diesel, Ford’s new Fiesta, Hyundai’s 2011 Verna, the upcoming Nissan Sunny and the more up-market Renault Fluence, the segment stands to be even more competitive.

And with the onset of a decline sales year and the VW Vento making the top spot and as the proverbial final straw, Honda has stated that they will make available a diesel Honda City to the public soon and by soon we mean 2013-14, by which time a lot more of the market would also have gone.

According to sources, Honda has said that they are preparing to develop a diesel engine to power the Honda City in the Indian auto industry very soon. Honda will be developing a new diesel engine in the range of 1.4L-1.6L according to what will fit the Honda City best
.
Mr. Janeshwar Sen, Marketing & Sales, Senior VP, Honda Motors India, stated, “We are developing a diesel engine in Japan to power City. It could take us more than two years. The rapid dieselisation of the market has happened only in the last one year, since the price difference between diesel and petrol has gone up from Rs 10 to Rs 21. We had to prioritize our efforts to be a big brand with big volumes, which will come from the Honda Brio. We believe we make the best engines and, therefore, there is no question of importing. Till then, we will continue to dominate the petrol segment.”

Source;
http://www.motoism.com/20110515440/latest/honda-finally-wakes-up-honda-city-to-come-in-a-diesel-variant-by-2013-14.html

Honda Cars : 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas Information Review | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Hmmm.... maybe Honda's onto something here....
Honda Revs The Civic For US Natural Gas Push

by Jeff McMahon at Forbes blog

Honda’s plan to sell its Civic Natural Gas in all 50 states this fall positions the Japanese carmaker to take advantage of a market that American industry has been hesitant to enter.

But it’s a market that may blossom if Congress passes T. Boone Pickens’ Nat Gas Act.

The problem with compressed natural gas vehicles has been a lack of filling stations in the U.S. to keep them on the road. The problem with stations has been a lack of vehicles to keep them in business.

For this reason, American government and industry have settled on a strategy of converting fleets to natural gas, including public transit and government fleets, heavy-duty freight fleets that currently rely on diesel, and light-vehicle fleets like taxis that can refuel at a single location.
I

t takes a fleet to support a station, according to the Department of Energy, which offers this advice to people thinking of opening a compressed natural gas filling station:

The first task is to identify customers who will use the station. How many vehicles will use it, and what type? Are there alternative fuel fleets in the area? “In the past some people believed ‘if we build it they will come,’ but many speculative CNG stations have failed,” says Rob Adams, vice president of Marathon, which specializes in CNG station design. “If you don’t know who’s going to use the station, you shouldn’t build it.” There should be a base number of quantifiable customers, such as a local fleet of alternative fuel taxis, to get the station started, says Adams.

via Alternative Fuel News, DOE (pdf)
The U.S. approach has changed little since DOE published that best-practices brochure in 2003, even though the U.S. is much closer to tapping vast domestic sources of natural gas.

In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, natural-gas-vehicle industry spokesman Richard Kolodziej emphasized the potential of natural gas to displace diesel fuel in heavy-duty trucking:

“While there are many options to displace gasoline in light duty vehicles, there are very few options to displace diesel,” he said. “If the role of the federal government is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and diesel is one of the problems, natural gas has to be one of the alternatives.”

Kolodziej testified in support of House Resolution 1380 — the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions, or NAT GAS Act — which would provide tax credits for companies to buy and manufacture natural gas vehicles and build refueling stations. The bi-partisan bill, part of the Pickens Plan, has broad support, including 180 co-signers.

In testimony, Kolodziej said the bill would help convert fleets to natural gas:

The market tells us that vehicles are the highest value application of all natural-gas uses. Natural gas is the fastest growing alternative fuel globally…. Most of those are smaller sedans, but for a number of reasons, including the sheer geographic size of America, the strategy of the US NGV industry has been to focus on high fuel-use fleets: trash trucks, transit buses, short-haul 18-wheelers, school buses, urban delivery vehicles, shuttles of all kinds, and taxis.”

More stations for fleets will provide more stations for individual motorists—many stations perform double duty—and the bill should foster the market for natural gas vehicles across all sectors. There are about 112,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today compared to more than 12 million worldwide, according to NGVAmerica.org.

The Nat Gas Act will provide incentives for the production of natural gas vehicles in the U.S. Honda has been doing that since 1998, and the company believes now is the time to roll them out nationwide.

In September, a Honda executive told hybridcars.com the company planned to double sales. In April, it announced it will establish the Civic—long the only natural gas light-duty vehicle manufactured in the U.S.—as the first sold in all 50 states.

For the rest of the article;

http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/05/09/honda-revs-the-civic-for-us-natural-gas-push/

Honda Cars : 2012 Honda Civic HF Review (Natural Gas) | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Cars : Future Tech Watch: Automakers Try To Sell Government On Fuel Cell Cars | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda's fuel cell electric car, the FCX Clarity, can go about 240 miles on a tank of hydrogen fuel. Compared with gasoline, that's about 60 miles to the gallon. The only emission is water so pure you could drink it.

The company has been building a limited number of these cars since 2005, so Honda was surprised when Secretary of Energy Steven Chu claimed it would take four technological miracles to make fuel cell cars viable in the marketplace.

"Simply put, he's wrong on those points. He has bad advice," Honda's Steve Ellis said at southeast Michigan's sole hydrogen fueling station. "Automakers are not foolish. We're not going to invest in technology that we see as a dead end."

The Clarity costs $600 a month to lease, but if you add in all of Honda's research and development costs, each one is probably worth tens of millions of dollars. Ellis says the costs are coming down, though — from the hydrogen fuel, which is made from natural gas, to the cost of the fuel cells. Producing them in volume will really bring the costs down, he says.

"Ten years ago, if we were looking under this hood, it would be like duct tape and baling wires," he says. "So it was all an engineering exercise. This car, we're handing the keys to customers, saying, 'Here's your car, see you in six months. Nothing to see here folks.' "

But the keys are being given only to people in southern California, where there's a cluster of hydrogen fueling stations, built with the help of state subsidies. Even if Chu changes his mind about the miracles, the price tag remains a problem.

Oliver Hazimeh of the management consulting firm PRTM says battery electric cars like the Volt and the Leaf are getting cheaper faster, which is why batteries are getting the nod from the government.

"By 2015, even five years from now, you will probably get a Nissan Leaf-type vehicle on the battery side for probably $25,000," he says. "That same vehicle in the fuel cell configuration will probably still be $45,000 to $50,000."

But fuel cell proponents say that's not a fair competition. The government spent more on battery electrics in just the past two years than it did on fuel cells over the past decade. James Warner, director of policy at the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, says cutting funding sends the wrong message to car companies developing fuel cell cars like Honda, GM, Toyota, Daimler and Hyundai.

"By all accounts, they are ready to commercialize these vehicles by 2015," he says.

Warner has a bigger worry than less federal funding. Under a continuing budget resolution, Chu has no mandate to spend anything at all on fuel cell technology.

"The secretary if he so chose could end these programs today," he says.

A statement from Chu suggests he is likely to stick with President Obama's proposed budget, which cuts research and development by about half, but eliminates funding for the commercialization of fuel cell cars. That means it could take even longer for people who don't live in southern California to get a hydrogen fuel cell car to drive.

Source;
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/19/135518929/automakers-try-to-sell-government-on-fuel-cell-cars

Honda Cars : Honda says it will make electric cars in China | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda plans to build make electric cars in China starting next year 2012 as part of a plan to raise sales there 10% a year.

Honda, a Japanese automaker, isn't stopping at electrics in the drive to pout China on the forefront of the automotive revolution, Bloomberg News reports. It also will make hybrids eventually, Bloomberg quotes CEO Takanobu Ito as saying at the Shanghai auto show today.

It's not like Honda will have to ship in a lot of parts for the project. The batteries, motors and other core parts are already made by Chinese manufacturers to cut procurement costs, he said. It's unclear which car that Honda would use as a base, but it has announced plans to electrify the small Fit. That's an electric fit in the picture, above.

Honda expects to sell 730,000 vehicles in China this year, a growth rate of about 10%, Ito said.

Source;
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/04/honda-says-it-will-make-electric-cars-in-china/1

Honda Cars : The greenest car you've (likely) never heard of | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Mira Oberman (AFP)

GREENSBURG, Indiana — The greenest car you've likely never heard of will soon be hitting Honda showrooms across the United States as the Japanese automaker expands sales of its compressed natural gas powered Civic.

Honda has been quietly winning green car awards for more than a decade as it cautiously introduced the Civic GX first to government and business fleet owners and then retail customers in a handful of test markets.

The nationwide retail launch set for this fall comes as US President Barack Obama pushes for wider adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles -- including mandating that all federal cars will need to run on alternative, hybrid or electric power by 2015.

Potential customers could also be lured by substantial cost savings as oil prices climb amid tensions in the Middle East and natural gas prices fall in the wake of major new discoveries in the United States.

But the Civic GX enters a crowded field where new plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars -- the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf -- are grabbing headlines and zippy new compact cars offer competitive fuel economy.

Honda's goals are relatively modest -- doubling sales to around 4,000 vehicles in the first year of national sales while Nissan is hoping to hit annual US sales of 20,000 Leafs -- but it still thinks the GX can compete.

"We're asking the GX purchaser to make far fewer sacrifices than any other alternative fuel vehicle," Eric Rosenberg, who heads Honda's alternative fuel vehicle program in the United States.

"When you compare it to the Volt or Leaf, it's the most affordable, it has the best range and it has the quickest refill."

The GX can drive up to 250 miles (403 kilometers) on a single tank and only takes a few minutes to fill at public or home fueling station.

The Leaf has a range of 62 to 138 miles (100 to 222 kilometers) depending on road conditions and takes 30 minutes to partially charge at a quick-charge station and seven to 20 hours using a standard 220 or 110 volt outlet.

GM's Volt can drive 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 kilometers) on its battery before switching over to a gasoline-powered engine and takes four to ten hours to charge.

Honda's GX is also the cleanest car on the US market, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy which looks at a vehicle's total environmental impact.

That's because natural gas is a clean-burning fuel. It consists primarily of methane and emits about 30 percent less carbon dioxide and 70-90 percent less smog-forming particulates than gasoline.

Electric cars may emit nothing from the tailpipe, but they have a significant carbon footprint because 45 percent of US electricity is generated by coal. Their batteries also carry a heavy environmental toll.

Realtor and property manager Irma Vargas bought her first Civic GX in 2006 to save on fuel costs and get access to carpool lanes -- a perk that can cut a 90-minute commute in half in congested Los Angeles.

"Me and my business partner bought it and were going to take turns with it because it was a new idea," Vargas said in a telephone interview.

"We found that we were fighting over it, so he ended up getting the next year's model."

Vargas sold the GX to an employee so she could upgrade to a new model in 2008 and has convinced four of her friends and customers to buy one as well.

She figures she's saved thousands of dollars on fuel costs -- she can fill her GX at home for about a dollar a gallon while it costs nearly four dollars a gallon to fill her Lexus hybrid, which she saves for long trips and big shopping excursions.

But it will be years before the GX or electric cars are sold in sufficient numbers to make a significant dent in greenhouse gas emissions, cautioned Lonnie Miller, an analyst at auto research firm R. L. Polk.

"If you look at the traditional batch of gas-electric hybrids, it's 2.6 percent of all US new vehicle registrations," he told AFP.

"CNG (compressed natural gas) and electric, they're not even registering."

It took six years for US consumers to embrace hybrids, which require only a few tradeoffs like a higher initial price tag and limited trunk space.

Like fully-electric cars, the Civic GX requires a much bigger tradeoff.

While owners can fuel up at home with relatively cheap unit called "Phil," long-range trips are essentially out of the question because there are only about 870 public fueling stations in the entire country.

The cost and environmental advantages of compressed natural gas will nonetheless help boost global sales by 9.1 percent a year to 3.2 million vehicles in 2016, according to a recent report by green tech consulting firm Pike Research.

The biggest growth -- 25 percent a year -- is forecast in the United States, fueled primarily by sales to corporate and government fleets which typically operate their own fueling stations.

Honda started with fleet sales in 1998 and offered the GX to retail customers in California and New York in 2005 as more fueling stations came online.

It expanded retail sales to Utah and Oklahoma in 2008 and 2009 as tax incentives in those natural-gas producing states drew more customers, but has only sold a little over 12,000 of the vehicles so far.

"The whole idea was for us as a company to learn how to retail the car," Honda's Rosenberg said. "It is a little different, it has a few idiosyncrasies."

The experience with the relatively-low cost GX will serve as a good model for the introduction of the holy grail of green cars -- the far more expensive and complex hydrogen fuel cell.

Honda was the first automaker to introduce a hydrogen fuel cell prototype in 1999 and began testing a small fleet with retail customers in 2005. It also plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid next year.

Source;

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCf_fLO4psJO3PVln1xGpzEXPVbQ?docId=CNG.8fcda49acdd6feab37caa2b17f3b1a60.261

Honda Cars : Overview of Honda Exhibition at Auto Shanghai 2011 | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced it will present an exhibit at Auto Shanghai 2011, which will be open to the press April 19-20 and to the general public April 21-28. The Honda display will feature hybrid vehicles, a battery electric concept vehicle, and other automobiles and electromotive technologies with the power to help reduce CO2 emissions.

Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle
Themed “Mobility for the Earth,” the Honda exhibit will envision the low-carbon society of the future with a range of advanced environmental technologies. The first Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system featuring a lithium-ion battery will make its world premiere, while the Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle and Honda’s next-generation plug-in hybrid platform will further demonstrate the depth of Honda’s approach to environmentally responsible mobility. Honda will also display its two dedicated hybrid vehicles, the Insight and the CR-Z, which it plans to launch in China in 2012, as well as a selection of other production vehicles.

On the April 19 press day, Honda will hold press conferences at the Honda display at 9:00 a.m. and at the Acura display at 9:30 a.m. local time.

Overview of Honda and Acura displays

Honda

-Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system featuring a lithium-ion battery (world premiere)
-Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle (China premiere)
-Next-generation plug-in hybrid platform (China premiere)
-Fit Hybrid, Insight hybrid vehicle, CR-Z sport hybrid coupe
-Li Nian S1 compact sedan

Other Honda production vehicles

Acura

Models planned for launch in China
RL, TL, MDX

Source;

http://www.ttkn.com/business/overview-of-honda-exhibition-at-auto-shanghai-2011-10152.html

Honda Cars : Honda UK to launch a 1.6L or 1.8L diesel for Civic, Accord and CR-V | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Better late than never. Finally Honda has decided to manufacture a new diesel engine which will power their luxury cars Civic, Accord and CR-V. Having manufactured just one diesel engine till date, the 2.4L which powered Accord, Honda did not miss diesel technology as they were probably happy with their popularity in manufacturing petrol engines. But times have changed. Customers today no longer believe that diesel powered cars are too different from their petrol counterparts. Instead diesel cars are more in demand than petrol cars today. This has forced the Japanese car maker to launch a new diesel engine for their luxury sedans and SUV. Mr David Hodgetts, MD, Honda UK, explained in an interview with Fleet News, that Honda will be launching their new diesel engine once their new Civic completes one year on road. So we can expect the new Honda diesel engine to be launched somewhere in 2013. No confirmation is available on whether Honda will be bringing this diesel engine to India. But, if we look at the exponential growth of the Indian auto industry, Honda will desperately want to launch diesel powered cars in India. Source; http://www.rushlane.com/honda-to-launch-a-1-6l-or-1-8l-diesel-for-civic-accord-and-cr-v-1212819.html

Honda Cars : Honda Preparing to Expand U.S. Sales of Natural Gas Civics | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., the only automaker currently selling a natural gas-powered car to U.S. consumers, plans to expand sales to most of the 50 states next year, from four now, U.S. Executive Vice President John Mendel said.

“You will see us expand sale of Civic GX across the country,” Mendel told reporters in a briefing at the Los Angeles Auto Show yesterday. “It’ll be a whole new vehicle,” he said, without elaborating.

The Tokyo-based company will make the sales announcement in conjunction with plans to revamp the Civic lineup in 2011, Mendel said.

Honda, which has sold a natural gas Civic for the past decade, promotes the fuel as causing less pollution than gasoline and sourced entirely from domestic sources. Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC have also said they’re developing natural gas models.

The current federal incentive for the purchase of a natural gas car is $3,500, Mendel said. While Honda has sold about 2,000 units of the Civic GX a year, it will sell only about 1,200 this year because of the plans to revamp the model, he said.

Honda gained 1.3 percent in Tokyo trading to 3,125 yen as of 1:23 p.m. The stock has increased 0.5 percent in 2010.

Global Warming
Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of Dallas-based BP Capital LLC, said yesterday a bill to help convert the U.S. trucking fleets to natural gas may pass Congress by year-end with bipartisan support.

Pickens wants buses and trucks that run on natural gas to replace the diesel and gasoline engines that contribute to global warming and increase U.S. oil imports that cost the country as much as $1 billion a day.

The measure, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced in September, has support from Republicans and Democrats and may be the first major legislation during the Obama administration to win support from both parties, Pickens said.

Mendel declined to provide a sales goal for the revamped natural gas Civic. Honda’s U.S. unit is based in Torrance, California.

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-17/honda-preparing-to-expand-u-s-sales-of-natural-gas-civics.html