TORRANCE, CA — Offering some California consumers the opportunity to say “goodbye” to gasoline, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced on April 21 that it will begin limited retail sales of its natural gas-powered Civic GX sedan paired with a revolutionary new home-refueling appliance called Phill. The Civic GX is the cleanest internal combustion vehicle ever certified by the U.S. EPA and, with the introduction of home refueling, has the lowest fuel cost per mile of any new vehicle. The Phill appliance, manufactured and marketed by FuelMaker Corporation, is an affordable home refueling appliance that allows drivers the convenience of refueling their vehicles at home using their existing natural gas supply. Phill will be available for lease through 17 authorized Honda Civic GX California dealers in San Diego, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Sacramento, and San Francisco. For the past seven years, Honda has marketed the Civic GX to fleet operators who have their own dedicated fueling stations. A limited number of retail customers have also purchased the Civic GX, relying on the existing public natural gas refueling network. By offering the Civic GX with the Phill home refueling appliance, Honda is expanding the appeal of this ultra-clean and convenient alternative to gasoline-powered transportation. Honda is the only manufacturer currently offering a dedicated natural gas-powered passenger car to the general public in North America. The Civic GX is also the only vehicle distributed nationwide that is certified to the stringent EPA Tier 2-Bin 2 emissions standard and it meets California’s Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has certified the U.S.-made Honda Civic GX as “the cleanest internal combustion engine-powered vehicle.” The GX was the first vehicle to earn AT-PZEV status in California and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently named the Civic GX as the “Greenest Vehicle of the Year” in overall environmental performance, ahead of even hybrid vehicles. Civic GX buyers can lease Phill through Honda dealers for approximately $34 to $79 per month (plus installation) depending on regional incentive programs. Phill can be mounted to a garage wall either indoors or outdoors and allows a natural gas-powered vehicle to be refueled overnight directly from a homeowner’s existing natural gas supply line. Phill is designed to offer ease of operation with simple “start” and “stop” buttons and will automatically turn itself off when the tank is full. Phill must be installed by a trained technician authorized by FuelMaker. The federal government currently offers a $2,000 tax deduction on the purchase of a new alternative fuel vehicle, and local incentives and rebates may also be available to some consumers. Drivers in California and nine other states also qualify for High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access for solo commuters.