MY FIRST COMPLETE YEAR WITH THE HONDA CIVIC HYBRID

Hybrid This has been quite an interesting twelve months with the Civic Hybrid. It has performed flawlessly for the entire year. I would say that I have driven it about the average amount of miles for a car driven in normal personal use, just under 14,000 miles.

The type of driving has varied from normal city to country and high speed (legal speeds of course) interstate and turnpike driving. It has been operated in temperatures ranging from 100 degrees in the Summer to near 0 degrees in the Winter. It has never failed to start instantly. The engine starts with the electric motor and it's 144 volt battery system. It never had to resort to the conventional starter, not even on the coldest mornings.

For those of you who are not familiar with the operation of the Honda Civic Hybrid, It is a "state of the art" automobile with many high tech features, but you treat just like a regular car. It combines a very efficient 1.3 litere gasoline engine with a brushless, 65mm thick electric motor powered by a 144 volt nickel metal hydride battery pack. The electric motor assists the gasoline engine as needed and also becomes a generator when coasting or braking to recharge the 144 volt battery. We do not plug it into charge the batteries, only put gas in it and go.

The table below contains all of the fuel, mileage and fuel cost information for the first year of operation. While I did not consistantly get mileage averages as high as the EPA estimates show for this model of car, I am not complaining. I did sometimes achieve mileage that matched or exceeded the EPA estimates. .


Location
City
Date
Last Fill
Mileage
(trip A)
Last Fill
MPG
(trip A)
Total
Mileage
(trip B)
Lifetime
Mileage
(trip B)
Gal.
Used
Actual
MPG
Cost
Per
Gal.
Total $
Tulsa, OK
7/1/2002
113
Purchased
New
.
.
.
.
.
Tulsa, OK
7/8/2002
392.8
36.3
512.8
37.1
12.201
32.2
$1.29
$15.74
Tulsa, OK
7/18/2002
399.9
37.4
894.8
38.2
1.887
33.64
$1.34
$15.92
Tulsa, OK
7/30/2002
417.2
38.2
1312
38.2
11.5
37.42
$1.28
$14.26
Tulsa, OK
8/1/2002
45.5
38.3
1357.5
38.2
1.515
30.03
$1.28
$1.94
Springfield, MO
8/1/2002
180.5
41.2
1538.1
38.6
4.407
40.96
$1.29
$5.69
Indianapolis, IN
8/2/2002
467.7
45
2002.9
39.7
10.819
43.23
$1.27
$13.74
Indianapolis, IN
8/4/2002
71.1
37.8
2074
39.7
2.556
27.82
$1.25
$3.20
St. Louis, MO
8/5/2002
268.8
46.1
2342.9
40.4
6.624
40.58
$1.36
$9.01
Springfield, MO
8/5/2002
195.7
40.8
2538.7
40.4
3.485
56.15
$1.27
$4.43
Tulsa, OK
8/6/2002
212.5
42.3
2751.2
40.4
6.023
35.28
$1.25
$7.53
Tulsa, OK
8/14/2002
383.9
39.7
3135.1
40.4
11.328
33.89
$1.22
$13.81
Tulsa, OK
9/1/2002
438.7
38.9
3573.8
40.1
12.096
36.27
$1.26
$15.23
Tulsa, OK
9/13/2002
410.4
40.1
3984.2
40.1
10.995
37.33
$1.30
$14.23
Tulsa, OK
9/21/2002
438.9
41.6
4423.2
40.4
11.869
36.72
$1.37
$16.25
Tulsa, OK
10/2/2002
347.1
41.2
4770.3
40.4
9.062
38.3
$1.28
$11.59
Tulsa, OK
10/17/2002
458.7
43.5
5229.1
40.8
11.445
40.8
$1.40
$15.00
Tulsa, OK
11/2/2002
333.9
40.8
5563
40.8
8.857
37.7
$1.35
$11.95
Tulsa, OK
11/16/2002
299.9
40.8
5863
40.8
8.399
35.71
$1.20
$10.07
Baxter Springs, KS
11/21/2002
173.7
44.2
6036.9
40.8
4.539
38.26
$1.38
$6.26
Tulsa, OK
12/3/2002
339.5
45
6377.7
40.8
7.753
43.78
$1.10
$8.52
Tulsa, OK
12/20/2002
452.1
43.5
6830
41.2
11.876
38.07
$1.28
$15.19
Tulsa, OK
1/6/2003
422
40.1
7252.1
41.2
11.858
35.58
$1.30
$15.05
Tulsa, OK
1/22/2003
415.4
40.8
7667.6
41.2
11.315
36.71
$1.29
$14.59
Tulsa, OK
2/5/2003
407.9
41.6
8075.7
41.2
11.319
36.03
$1.46
$16.51
Tulsa, OK
2/18/2003
377.5
42.3
8453.2
41.2
9.494
39.76
$1.50
$14.23
Tulsa, OK
3/9/2003
428.3
40.4
8884.6
41.2
11.626
36.83
$1.53
$17.78
Tulsa, OK
3/20/2003
296
43.1
9177.7
41.2
7.809
37.9
$1.48
$11.55
Tulsa, OK
4/9/2003
440.2
43.1
9618
41.2
11.329
39.01
$1.33
$15.00
Tulsa, OK
4/19/2003
474.7
45
10,093.2
41.6
11.212
42.34
$1.40
$15.69
Tulsa, OK
5/6/2003
479.2
46.5
10,572
41.6
11.378
42.12
$1.27
$14.42
Tulsa, OK
5/19/2003
483.9
45
11,056.5
41.6
12.246
39.51
$1.40
$17.13
Springfield, MO
5/22/2003
276.2
43.9
11,332
42
6.742
42.68
$1.40
$9.05
St. Louis, MO
5/23/2003
195.3
47.6
11,528
42
4.634
42.15
$1.35
$6.25
Indianapolis, IN
5/23/2003
281.2
50.7
11,810
42
5.854
48.04
$1.36
$7.96
Indianapolis, IN
5/25/2003
90.6
43.9
11,900
42
2.485
36.24
$1.36
$3.38
St Louis, MO
5/26/2003
267.4
49.2
12,468
42.3
5.902
45.31
$1.34
$7.90
Tulsa, OK
5/30/2003
491.6
43.9
12,660
42.3
11.953
41.3
$1.35
$16.02
Tulsa, OK
6/9/2003
222.5
42.3
12,882
42.3
6.383
34.77
$1.33
$8.48
Tulsa, OK
6/11/2003
530.6
46.1
13,413
42.3
11.651
45.54
$1.40
$16.30
Tulsa, OK
6/25/2003
366.1
41.2
13,779.6
42.3
10.176
35.98
$1.33
$13.52
Tulsa, OK
6/30/2003
109.0
37.4
13,888.7
42.3
3.190
34.17
$1.32
$4.21

My Hybrid has only been back to the dealer twice during it's first year and both of those times were for oil changes at a cost of about $32.00 each time. These oil changes were done at 5,000 and 10,000 miles.

All in all, it has been a great car to own, and a pleasure to drive. I am looking forward to many more trouble free miles.

If you haven't experienced a Honda Civic Hybrid yet, please go to a Honda dealer and take one for a test drive. You will be suprised by how smooth and quiet these cars really are.

RED LINE

Email:wdcox@cox.net

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