Honda cars ready for biofuels

Who’s afraid of biofuels?

If you own a Honda automobile, you need not be. Your car — and all Honda cars in the Philippines — can run on 10-percent bioethanol blend without modification.

This is the assurance given by Honda Cars Philippines to all Honda owners as the country prepares for the eventual enactment of the Biofuels Law.

Speaking before industry experts at a Forum on Alternative Fuels and Technologies at the Palms Country Club in Alabang, Honda Cars President Takashi Sekiguchi said all Honda cars sold in the country since 1991 can safely run on E10, the gasoline blended with 10-percent bioethanol.

"Honda cars won’t have any problem with E10. Ten percent blend is okay," he said. He, however, cautioned Honda owners from using more than 10-percent blend.

During the same forum, Michio Shinohara, an engineer at the Environment and Safety Planning Office of Honda Motor Co., Japan, bared Honda’s answer to the expected surge in demand for biofuels once the Biofuels Bill is signed into law in the coming months.

He noted that since 1970, with the introduction of the Civic as the first car to meet the requirements of the United States’ Clean Air Act, Honda has been working for clean-burning engines that can run on renewable fuels.

"Blue Skies For Our Children" is Honda’s guiding force, according to Shinohara, "Honda never stops innovating to come up with vehicles that excite our customers and at the same time protect the environment."

Shinohara revealed major product innovations from Honda’s factory, starting off with a flex-fuelled Civic and Jazz that can run on 100-percent bioethanol. The two vehicles will be initially made available in Brazil where bioethanol use is already widespread.

Another vehicle that will soon be in Honda’s showrooms abroad is the natural-gas-powered Civic to be sold in New York state early next year. Called the Civic GX, the vehicle has near-zero emissions and has been proclaimed the "cleanest internal combustion engine," ever tested.

In Europe, Honda has launched a next-generation diesel engine with a revolutionary Nox catalytic converter. The 2.2-liter I-CTDi diesel engine which has earned widespread praise for quiet, clean operation and dynamic performance, is fitted to the Euro Accord.

Aside from these vehicles, Honda is continuously working on future technologies such as fuel cell and hybrid. It is testing a Civic hybrid on Philippine roads in partnership with the Department of Energy. The blue car, which looks exactly the same as a regular Civic, was displayed outside the forum’s venue andwas even tested by broadcast journalist Rey Langit who was impressed by its "very smooth" performance.

Hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gasoline and electricity. It has a small gasoline-fed motor that charges an electric motor on the rear. When fully charged, the electric motor takes over and the gasoline motor stops to save on fuel.

Honda Cars Philippines Vice President Arnel Doria said more than 150,000 such vehicles have been sold in the United States in recent years. He cannot say, however, when such vehicles will be available in the country and for how much.

"We’re just waiting for a law on alternative vehicles to be passed in Congress. At present, we have to pay so many taxes before we can sell a hybrid vehicle here. We need government’s help so we could bring down the price of our hybrid cars to affordable levels," he said.