Honda announces pricing and availability on 2012 Civic Natural Gas

Honda has announced an MSRP on the 2012 Civic Natural Gas as $26,155 to start. The Civic Natural Gas, which Honda used to call the Civic GX, will go on sale October 18th. The Civic Natural Gas will be available for sale and service at 200 different qualified dealerships in 38 states, which is a huge expansion of Honda's previous offering of the natural-gas-powered Civic that was only available in California, New York, Utah, and Oklahoma.

Honda says the Civic Natural Gas emits almost zero smog-forming particles and is the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle certified by the EPA. It will get a decal that qualifies for single-occupant access to HOV carpool lanes in several states across the country including California. Natural gas is also about 30 percent less expensive than gasoline, so the fuel economy rating of 27mpg city and 31mpg highway will net owners a significant decrease in fuel consumption costs over a standard Civic. Honda claims that the new Civic Natural Gas improves upon the old Civic GX's fuel economy by 10.7 percent overall.

The 2012 Civic Natural Gas will be powered by a 1.8L 4cyl engine that boasts a 12.7:1 compression ratio, special fuel injectors, valves and valve seats, and a strengthened bottom end to take advantage of the higher compression and the burning properties of natural gas. A 3600-psi aluminum fuel tank sits between the rear wheels and carries the equivalent of 7.8 gallons of gasoline. Honda says the tank is "safety-engineered" to resist puncturing in the event of a rear collision. They have not, however, released any horsepower or torque figures, nor have they posted any acceleration results, so we don't know if the Civic Natural Gas has the same turn of speed that its gasoline counterpart does.

Honda will build the 2012 Civic Natural Gas in Indiana, giving it the claim of being the only OEM-built natural-gas-powered vehicle to originate from the United States.