Do I need a license to drive that?
As we move ahead into a new level of Green Car Options, I visited the 2012 auto show to see what was of interest. Automakers are getting greener and there are many new options. Federal tax credits range from zero to $7500 per vehicle. And there are now more options for fuel, such as clean technology diesels, which sounds to me like jumbo shrimp. An oxymoron, that is. Here’s a list of some of the options you now have, from the Toyota Prius V, which is coming out with a new plug-in version in March 2012, and the Coda, a venture with a Chinese company with a $40,000 all electric sedan which you can go 150 miles between charges. That list includes Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Chevrolet, Tesla, VW and yes, Honda.
As a Honda driver, and author of this blog, with full disclosure that I work for Fuller Honda, here’s some info on the Green Car Options from Honda. They have a Civic that is Natural Gas, compressed natural gas, that is, with a sticker of $26,656 and a 28 mpg equivalent. The fuel cost for 25 miles is $2.49. Annual fuel cost is estimated at $1495. This starts a trend in the consumer market, as industry and government have been using this for their fleets for some time. There are now at least 9 public CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) fueling stations in San Diego. CNG costs about $1.35 per gallon, a lot less than filling up at the regular gas pumps. So some big savings there.
Honda also has a Hybrid Civic, which we looked at during the recent Auto Show. We were impressed that more than 200,000 vehicles have been sold so far. (Note: as of this writing, only 5,000 Chevy Volts have been sold) 44 mpg is the mileage for the Honda Civic Hybrid. More info on this below. Looking forward to updating this in the few months ahead for Fuller Honda.
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-hybrid/price.aspx
