Driving the natural-gas-fueled version of the 2012 Honda Civic
brought me back to my high-school chemistry class. As I thought
about how Honda derives a miles-per-gallon figure for this car,
I considered the physical states of a liquid versus a gas. That
train of thought only explained why the natural gas tanks in the
car impinged so much on the trunk space, yet still only carried
8 gallons. The 13.2-gallon tank in the 2012 Honda Civic EX-L
used up much less space. As my chemistry teacher explained, a
gas takes up more volume than a liquid. It took a little Web
research to find that Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) is a
commonly used measurement for compressed natural gas (CNG). A
GGE of CNG contains the same amount of energy as a gallon of
gasoline. Being a gas, that GGE of CNG takes up more volume, and
means there is maybe room for three grocery bags in the back of
the Civic Natural Gas. Given its smaller fuel capacity, the
Civic Natural Gas does not boast the same range as its gasoline
counterpart. A Civic