New Honda Civic Hybrid Means Motorists Can Be Both Green and Unseen
It is weird, sitting at a stoplight with the engine off and the tachometer needle resting motionless on 0.
But that’s motoring in the brave new world of hybrid vehicles, in which a combination of gasoline engine and electric motor offers high mileage and reduced tailpipe emissions but often not as much comfort and drivability.
Fortunately, the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid also drives like a standard Civic.
And unlike the first gas-electric hybrids to hit the U.S. market--the futuristic two-seat Honda Insight and the gangly five-seat Toyota Prius--the Civic Hybrid uses a conventional body.
So for those who don’t like to be gawked at and questioned by passersby about their car’s technical data, driving the Civic Hybrid means it is possible to be green and unseen.
The Civic’s hybrid power plant is tucked beneath a standard hood, and other than a slightly different front fascia and a Hybrid badge beneath the right taillight, from the outside it is just a Civic.
Owning one will cost a bit more than having a comparably equipped conventional Civic. The Hybrid’s $21,010 price tag (including Honda’s destination charge) is about $4,000 more than that of a Civic LX sedan. But the Civic Hybrid comes with special alloy wheels, a CD player, upgraded seats, side air bags and remote entry--items that are options on the LX model.
The Hybrid’s instrument panel, which has cool electric-blue lighting, holds the normal gauges as well as one for Integrated Motor Assist. The IMA display includes a gasoline gauge, a battery power indicator and a bar gauge that illustrates when the electric system is being recharged and when the electric motor is working.
A fuel economy indicator under the speedometer lets me know when I am being a gas hog, and it kept a running track of my gas mileage.
One model also comes with a continuously variable transmission, or CVT. This is a relatively new type of automatic that doesn’t shift gears but keeps the engine running at the optimum revolutions per minute for whatever the driver demands of it--accelerating, hill climbing or hauling heavy loads.
The Environmental Protection Agency rates the Civic Hybrid with the five-speed manual transmission at 46 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, the automatic version at 48 and 47. But EPA mileage is achieved by computer simulation, and few drivers get close in everyday motoring.
When I picked up a test car at American Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Torrance, the digital readout said it was averaging about 39 mpg.
When I returned it four days and about 300 miles later, I had dropped the average to 34 mpg. That’s probably because, as a test driver, I do a lot of fuel-gulping maneuvering, accelerating harder and passing more than if the car were mine and I wasn’t trying to discover its pluses and minuses. And my drive home includes a steep, mile-long grade that would hurt any vehicle’s fuel economy.
I didn’t take the car on a long highway trip, sticking instead with normal daily commuting and weekend shopping trips. So I never got to see if the Hybrid could hit 50 mpg while cruising at a steady 60 mph on the flat highways through the Mojave Desert.
But based on other drivers’ experiences with the Insight and Prius, I’d expect most Civic Hybrid drivers to report average fuel consumption of 40 to 42 mpg.
That’s not bad, though, and the car’s credentials shine even greener when its hydrocarbon emissions are taken into account.
The Hybrid gets the same ultra-low-emission vehicle rating from the California Air Resources Board as the standard Honda Civic with a 1.7-liter gasoline engine. But the Hybrid’s 1.3-liter engine produces less than half the smog-causing hydrocarbons of its conventional sibling, according to CARB data.
Vehicles such as the Civic Hybrid are relatively rare. Honda has sold just 10,000 Insights since the model was introduced in December 1999, and Toyota has sold about 20,000 Priuses since launching in July 2000.
Several recent studies have found that most people don’t understand how a hybrid works and often confuse them with electric cars that must be plugged into a recharging unit.
Hybrids, in fact, combine two or more types of power units, usually an internal-combustion engine and an electric “helper,” in a single self-charging package. The only refueling is at the gas or diesel pump.
The Civic Hybrid combines a small gasoline engine with an electric motor that provides an extra boost when needed.
In Toyota’s case, the electric motor in the Prius also provides zero-emission electric power for creeping along in freeway traffic with the gas engine off, a feature Honda does not offer. As a result, the Prius has slightly cleaner overall emissions than the two Hondas. (The EPA compares the three hybrids at www.fueleconomy.gov.)
One thing the Civic Hybrid isn’t is a racer. Its four-cylinder engine, rated at 85 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque--the power necessary for acceleration--is mated to a 10-kilowatt electric motor rated at 13 horsepower and 46 pound-feet of torque.
Combined horsepower is 97, versus 115 for a conventional Civic LX sedan. But the Hybrid’s combined torque is a hefty 116 pound-feet and it is all available at a mere 1,500 rpm, so acceleration is reasonable. The gasoline engine LX model puts out 100 pound-feet of torque but not until the engine is revving at 4,500 rpm.
The Hybrid’s gas engine and braking system generate electricity that is stored in the batteries until needed to provide juice for the electric motor. The battery pack and the central processing system that controls it all are located between the rear seats and the trunk.
Honda’s hybrid system works by using the electric motor as a supercharger, giving a powerful boost to the gas engine when needed for accelerating, passing or climbing hills and shutting down and recharging when the car is cruising or slowing.
There’s also an auto-stop feature that shuts off the gas engine when the car is braked to a halt.
The system eliminates the nasty emissions that occur when internal-combustion engines are idling. But it is touchy, and I had to remember to keep my foot on the brake at a stop. If I lifted my foot, the gas engine would come back to life.(Honda insists that the frequent start-stop cycles won’t wear things out faster than usual, and the power system on the Civic Hybrid and the Insight have an eight-year, 80,000-mile warranty, versus a three-year, 36,000-mile power train warranty on other Hondas.)
Unless I tried to launch from every stop sign like a drag racer, there was no noticeable lag between the time the Hybrid’s accelerator pedal was depressed and the moment the car started rolling.
Although acceleration is a little slower than a regular Civic’s, the Hybrid was quick enough to get me up the onramp and into the flow of freeway traffic. Top speed is limited to 107 mph.
As with other Civics, stopping is done by disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear, with anti-lock braking as standard equipment. The P185/70R14 tires, although designated as low-rolling-resistance rubber, have enough grip to keep the Civic Hybrid tracking nicely.
At cruising speeds, the Hybrid is every bit as comfortable and responsive as its all-gas siblings.
The only drawback: The control unit behind the rear seat takes up about 20% of the trunk, leaving 10.1 cubic feet of storage space versus 12.9 cubic feet in the conventional version. (Honda opted to take cargo rather than passenger space. Toyota’s Prius has a larger trunk at 12 cubic feet, but with 91 cubic feet of cabin space versus 89 in the Prius, the Civic is a bit roomier for people.)
Final words: Even at the EPA’s 48 mpg, Honda Civic Hybrid owners probably won’t recover the extra cost of the car by saving on fuel. But those who buy it--and Honda expects to sell at least 20,000 the first year--will get an environmentally friendly car that can do everything a regular Civic can except beat one across the intersection.
