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CAPITAL REGION
Dealers pushing ’09 cars that run on natural gas
BY JASON SUBIK Gazette Reporter

    High gasoline prices have prompted several Honda dealerships in the Capital Region to begin advertising the future availability of cars powered by compressed natural gas.
    Although few in number, the cars are in demand, said Saratoga Honda sales manager Mark David. He said his dealership has ordered four of the 2009 Civic GX’s to meet expected demand from consumers.
    “I would say that realistically a quarter of our Internet requests right now are for [natural gas vehicles],” David said.
    Honda’s Civic GX model can hold the natural gas equivalent of about 8 gallons of gasoline. At about $1.39 per “gallon” for the natural gas, it would cost about $11.12 to fuel the vehicle for about 200 to 250 miles of driving. But refueling the vehicle is difficult without wide availability of natural gas refueling stations.
    Government entities have adopted the technology faster than consumers, in part because the vehicles are expensive and because government agencies can afford to buy them as fleets and install centralized refueling stations.
    Albany International Airport uses several pickup trucks and six buses fitted for compressed natural gas.
    A salesman at Lia Honda said that dealership has supplied New York state with several hundred compressed natural gas Honda Civic GX models, the 2008 edition of which has sold out in North America.
    “A lot of natural gas cars are being purchased at this time by municipalities,” David said. “As long as they’ve been around they’ve been available to the public, but because of the price, $25,000, people have said they didn’t want to spend the money. But now they do.”
    Toronto-based FuelMaker Corp. sells a residential compressed natural gas refueling station called the Phill.
    Jeff Harju, marketing manager for FuelMaker, said his company has sold 4 home units to customers in the Albany area. FuelMaker does not have residential Phill dealerships and sells the units directly to customers. He said the units range in price from $3,900 to $4,200, not counting shipping or installation fees.
    “Throughout the U.S. we’ve sold over 400, mostly in California,” Harju said.
    Although customers may like the convenience of refueling at home, they will have few options for repairing the vehicles. David said his dealership and Lia Honda are the only shops certified to repair the vehicles in the Capital Region.
    “You wouldn’t even want a regular mechanic to touch this car,” David said.