Click above for a hi-res gallery of the facelifted Civic Hybrid

It looks like Honda's giving the Civic Hybrid a little bit more of an edge in the form of a mild facelift. Up front, the fascia is new, with a three-opening lower intake and a new grille that's shaped like the one you'll find on the Accord and FCX Clarity. A walk to the back of the car reveals what seems to be a new trim piece connecting the taillamps, which are very mildly updated with more ronounced reverse lights. Beyond that, the car looks unchanged. For example, the wheels and profile are identical to the cars on the road right now. It'll be interesting to see whether the appearance updates are exclusive to the hybrid to give it some differentiation, or if they'll make their way to the other Civics as well.


[Source: KGP Photography]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the new Honda Hybrid

Honda has acknowledged that not having an instantly-recognizable hybrid-only model since the demise of the Insight (still modern-looking today) has taken a toll. While the company offers the Civic Hybrid, that car lacks the green cachet that Toyota has very successfully cultivated with the Prius. So, Honda made no secret that a new hybrid-exclusive model was coming, and wouldn't you know -- it's very reminiscent of the Prius!

The spies at KGP snagged the car out testing, but there's no denying that its teardrop shape brings Toyota's car to mind. We assume this is the result of Honda going for the most aerodynamic shape possible, which resulted in a profile that can't help but be similar to the Prius. A look at the FCX Clarity shows that Honda's new weapon shares much with its big brother, too. In front, the grille slats solidly carry the family resemblance forward from the new fuel-cell car, and when the new hybrid is ultimately shown without the cladding and cover-ups, we have a feeling that it'll look a bit like a downsized Clarity. The Toyota Prius is a major success story, and Honda wants a piece of that action. You know the saying: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And so, it appears, they are.


[Source: KGP Photography]

For the first time, Honda will be the host company for the Society of Engineers World Congress in 2009. In keeping with the company's long-standing and competitive motorsports heritage, the theme of next year's event will be "Racing to Green Mobility." Honda themselves are preparing to present 50 technical papers at the Congress and the company will be encouraging other companies to get heavily involved with both presentations and booths as well. Bosch will be Honda's primary Tier 1 partner for the show. The World Congress is an annual gathering of automotive engineers from around the world (see our 2008 Congress coverage here). The event provides around 40,000 attendees the opportunity to share information on the latest technology advancements. The 2009 Congress is scheduled for April 20-23, 2009 in Detroit.

[Source: Honda]

While the fuel efficiency of new vehicles is clearly an important issue today, it's certainly not the only area where emissions and fuel consumption can be reduced. Carmakers are scrambling to reduce all their energy use to save money. The latest effort from Honda is the new Auto-Max rail car. Honda worked with Greenbrier companies to develop the Auto-Max and has now deployed 400 of them. Honda is shipping 82 percent of its vehicles by rail and the new rail cars can hold up to 22 vehicles compared to 10 for conventional rail cars. The rail cars give Honda more flexibility to pack in more vehicles with a mix of different types, helping the company to cut the fuel use and emissions per vehicle shipped. Honda has also revamped the rail infrastructure at its Ohio factories, allowing them to now ship out more vehicles by rail. The changes provide an annual savings of 2,436 gallons of fuel and 54,432 pounds of CO₂.

Click above for 91 high-resolution images of the new Scion xD

Toyota and Honda have battled it out as the greenest automaker these last few years pretty much no matter how you look at it. Honda may have beat Toyota to the hybrid punch with its inaugural Insight model, but there is no arguing that the Prius is the green car standard by which others are judged. Last year, Honda was anointed the Greenest Automaker by the Union of Concerned Scientists, partly because it boasted the highest average fuel efficiency of its entire fleet of cars. Could that status be in danger? Perhaps, and Toyota would like you to know that its line is this year's most fuel efficient. How so? According to the press release pasted after the break, Toyota currently offers eight models which get better than thirty miles per gallon on the highway according to the EPA ... if the Camry hybrid is counted as a separate model from the normal Camry and the Scion xD is included. Additionally, the fuel economy numbers are those used by the NHTSA for CAFE standards, which are not the same as the numbers reported by the EPA. Is all of this just picking nits? Maybe, but there is no arguing that both Toyota and Honda are tops when it comes to the mile per gallon race.

Honda has been producing V6 engines with Variable Cylinder Management for their line of automobiles and minivans for the past few years. Consumers can see a fuel savings of around ten percent when the engine is allowed to switch between six, four or even just three of its cylinders. According to Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui, the company has plans to begin introducing its Variable Cylinder Management technology to its line of motorcycles beginning in 2010. Another possible fuel and emissions-savings technology will appear on every one of its bikes at the end of that same year in the form of Programmed Fuel Injection. No Honda motorcycles will be equipped with old-school carburetors any longer. Honda has been producing motorcycles with its VTEC system for some time now.

Expect to see safety innovations such as electronically-controlled combined ABS, which will use computers to link the front and rear brakes, along with airbags on some models.

[Source: Faster and Faster]

Honda's amazing little Cub, which started life with a tiny little four-stroke engine of just 50ccs, continues to build on its record of the most popular vehicle in the world. Just how many tiny-engined Hondas could there be in the world, you ask? How about sixty million. That's certainly a staggering number, but what is surprising is that the machine is selling better now than ever. Last year alone, Honda was able to move an amazing 4.7 million Cubs, despite the fact that they are not sold in America any longer. As our car-obsessed buddies at Autoblog point out, there are twice as many Cubs roaming the world than F-Series pickups and nearly three times as many as the original Volkswagen Beetle. If you'd enjoy owning one but live in the U.S., fear not. A trip to your local classifieds or eBay will surely yield a few friendly Hondas for your perusal.

We've sampled several of the European spec diesel models from the Bosch demonstration fleet over the last year and have some more cool tests coming soon. One example that we haven't tried out is the 2007 Honda Accord. The Accord in question is the European model which is smaller than the American market car. This car is available in the U.S. badged as the Acura TSX. However, to date no TSX has been offered with a diesel engine. That will probably change early in 2009 when the TSX is expected to become home to a new 2.2L diesel that Acura displayed at the Detroit Auto Show last January.

The New York Times did get to spend some time with the Bosch Accord and came away quite pleased. They managed to achieve 34mpg driving the Accord around town and a phenomenal 53mpg driving on the highway. Even hard driving still yielded 40mpg. Hopefully we'll get a look at the new U.S.-market Acura diesel before the end of this year.

[Source: New York Times, thanks to Joseph for the tip!]

I've done you a favor. As part of the American Honda Lunch program yesterday at the AFVI Expo, comedian Matt Hovde was part of the entertainment. Before he took to the stage, I was kind of excited. I mean, he's part of Second City, and they're legends in the comedy business. So, what's my favor to you? I've split the audio from Hovde's routine from the clip of the other speaker during lunch: American Honda's vice president of corporate planning and logistics Dan Bonawitz. You can still listen to Hovde if you really want to, but don't complain to me if you find yourself groaning more than laughing

So, what did Bonawitz have to say? Like Larry Burn's presentation during the morning session, Bonawitz ran through some of his company's efforts to bring cleaner transportation to customers. The main focus Bonawitz talked about was hydrogen. Bonawitz said that American Honda sees natural gas-powered cars as a bridge to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Honda, like GM, is calling for more government help in establishing refueling infrastructure, but the lack of the infrastructure today isn't stopping the company from moving forward with deploying vehicles. The world's first fuel cell vehicle dealer network will kick into gear in a few months when the Honda FCX Clarity becomes available in parts of California. Honda has one of these production models on display here at the Expo, and you can check out some pictures of the car in the gallery below. The lighting in the Expo hall is terrible for photographs, but I hope some of the gorgeous burgundy color of the FCX Clarity is reproduced well on your monitor.

Aside from fuel cells, Bonawitz talked about other Honda clean tech like the new diesel Acura, new I-TEC engines and the Honda / RITE cellulosic ethanol partnership. Of course, we're certainly anxious to see Honda's new purpose-built hybrid car that will be unveiled next year and will carry a price tag below the current Civic hybrid. Bonawitz said that vehicle is still on the way, but didn't provide any more information. All I can say is I'm happy he didn't try to make a joke out of it.

Hovde (8 min):



Bonawitz (12 min):

In Southern California, the local Honda Dealers Association is trying to be "helpful" to the environment. That "helpful" tag is how the Association is branding itself (just check out the website) and, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, the latest helpful move is to hand out reusable shopping bags and plant some trees in Southern California. The program started Wednesday and runs through the end of the month.

If you're interested in a bag, you can pick one up in SoCal cities in places like grocery stores and farmers markets and recycling stations. Each time someone takes a bag, Honda and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree in an effort to replenish what was lost in last year's wildfire. It seems like bag recipients will need to go to the website to enter a code to have the tree planted in their name. More details after the jump.

Motorcycle, scooter and moped manufacturers in India are worried. Since Tata announced their ultra-cheap Nano, the two-wheeled industry is abuzz with worry that the populace will quickly abandon their old single-track vehicles for the safety and convenience of a four-wheeler if the price points get too close. This is a rational concern, and it is exactly why Tata's created the Nano in the first place.

In an effort to persuade buyers to stick with their bikes, the major manufacturers in India, including Bajaj, Honda and Kinetic, are all working on natural gas options for their various offerings. According to this article, each of these companies has contacted Energtek, a leader in absorbed natural gas (ANG) technology for help in implementing the conversion process. The advantages to using the ANG lie primarily with price, however there are also eco-benefits to be had, as natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil-fuels. We have to wonder, though, what would stop companies like Tata from using similar technology in their low-priced automobiles.

Related:

• VIDEO: Live reveal of the $2,500 Tata Nano
• Here's the $2,500 Tata Nano, the Indian peoples car

[Source: Red Orbit]

Touting your own ecological actions isn't rare in the automotive world - we get piles of press releases every day that prove that point. Honda has created a new website to highlight the company's environmental activities. Of course, we have our own Honda section on AutoblogGreen, but if you want to see how Honda frames the message, click here. The site requires the latest Flash player, and you can expect lots of pretty (and pretty annoying) graphics to tell you how great the FCX Clarity or Accord hybrid are.

My vote for most obnoxious line in the site is this one:

"Honda's products make the world a cleaner, safer place." Look, we're all for greener, smarter driving, but cars simply do not make the world cleaner. Never have and, until they run on smog or CO₂, they never will.



[Source: Honda]

Episode 20 of the AutoblogGreen Podcast has us recapping Geneva mere days before we head to New York. There were lots of exciting things over in Switzerland, and we touch on a few of them. Th!nk's new Ox will be a Tesla-magnitude achievement if it hits the market doing what the company says it will. GM rolled out the new version of its mild hybrid system that will be propagating across virtually all models in all brands to help boost CAFE. Better efficiency for about half of what a sat nav option costs? We'll take it. Speaking of hybrids, there was a lot of talk from BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen ,and others about upcoming Euro-branded hybrids, and diesel hybrids at that. Mercedes will debut li-Ion batteries in a production hybrid, while Toyota has yet to see a compelling argument for diesel hybrids. Rest assured that if people want it, Toyota will build it, though. Before closing, we look forward to the couple of things we know about in New York, like the debut of the Acura TSX/Honda Euro Accord which will sport a 50-state legal diesel, and the Automotive X-Prize folks will be holding a press conference, as well. 32 minutes this time around. Stay tuned, we'll surely be abuzz when we return from New York.

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There is a huge aftermarket contingency turning small Hondas into performance cars by replacing their engines with larger versions from other vehicles. We're sure that you've noticed the various Civics and Integras buzzing around town, and soon those Civics could be Insights if this vehicle starts a new trend. Created by LHT Performance in Florida, this particular Insight features the K20A engine featured in various Honda and Acura models in both the U.S. and abroad. The conversion, of course, removes the Integrated Motor Assist that made the Insight a hybrid in the first place.

The same thing that makes the Insight such an efficient vehicle, its light weight, also makes it an ideal performance car. According to LHT, the car has close to 200 horsepower and scoots along very quickly. Fuel mileage isn't quite as good as a stock Insight, as you might imagine, but is still quite respectable at nearly 50 miles per gallon on average. We hope that removing the IMA engine from the Insight doesn't become a common sight, but we can appreciate the work that went into making this one.

[Source: LHT Performance]

Click on the image above to enlarge

It's no secret that we were stoked to see Honda re-entering the dedicated hybrid game with the announcement that they would soon be entering production with their CR-Z concept. What's cool is that Honda has seen fit to allow you to show your enthusiasm too. Click here to go straight to Honda's survey regarding the new hybrid hatch. If you want to brush up on your knowledge about the CR-Z, click here for some of our coverage, then go here for Honda's CR-Z minisite.

While the upcoming Honda "global-hybrid" is the likely sales leader and Prius-fighter, we like that Honda is reviving the concept of the fun-to-drive CRX as an environmentally-friendly sporty car which should go a long way towards showing people that driving green can also be driving fun.

[Source: Honda, thanks for the tip, kt]