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Honda Offers $3,000 Fuel Card With Civic NGV Purchase

October 11, 2012 by 3 Comments
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As the only natural gas car you can buy from a major automaker, you would think the Honda Civic NGV would have the market for alternative fuels cornered. But Honda executives are resorting to some classic tricks to move these vehicles off of dealership lots, including offering a $3,000 fuel card with the purchase of any Civic NGV.

The $3,000 fuel card can only be used at one of the 150 Clean Energy CNG stations around America (of which 40 are in California). Granted, California is the largest car market, and gas prices have crept over $4.50 a gallon in many places in the Golden State. With CNG prices hovering around $2.00 a gallon, you can save a lot of money, and the Honda Civic NGV even won the coveted Green Car of the Year award.

The Honda Civic NGV also gives drivers access to California’s coveted HOV lanes. Alas, with a starting MSRP of $26,305 (plus a $790 destination fee), the Honda CIvic NGV is the most expensive Civic model in the lineup. The Civic CNG also makes due with less power and less range, around just 200 miles per tank of natural gas. Also, home refilling can take up to a full day, and the CNG filling systems cost thousands of dollars, leaving some customers to rely on just a handful of public fueling stations.

While many pundits and politicians are touting CNG as the replacement for petrol, consumers seem wary. Nobody wants to get stuck with the 21st century equivalent of Betamax, after all. Throwing $3,000 of free fuel on the hood of a new car doesn’t exactly reek of confidence.

Source: Carscoop

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About Christopher DeMorro

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can follow his slow descent into madness and non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.

  • ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    There’s a $4,000 tax credit on NG vehicles so although it’s priced not to sell, these paired rebates bring the price, coincidentally, to just below $20k.

  • t_

    Guys, adoption of new things is never easy, but guess what, there are countries in the world, where there are enough CNG stations, so one can use such car, without worrying about anything. Right now. And with low prices of CNG and climbing petrol prices it is quite possible, that those cars get bought.

  • Dave

    I’ve been driving a Honda NGV for three years now and it has been a solid performer. At 1.50 a gallon it’s hard to beat as a daily commuter car. What amazes me is that after 1,000′s of miles of driving the oil is still as honey colored as the day I put it in. Truly a clean burning car. The idea that “it can take up to a full day” to refuel at home is new to me. I’ve always heard that it’s more like 6 to 8 hours, about like an EV. In any case it takes a couple of minutes at a pump which is more than you can say for a pure EV. The only downside for me is the ride. For that reason my next car will probably be the Volt or the Plugin Fusion even though I don’t see those as saving me much money on the commute.