WHAT if you never had to visit a petrol station again? What if you never had to worry about oil price rises affecting the cost of your motoring? In the US this is about to become a reality: a Honda Civic that runs on gas with a home refuelling appliance to go with it will be available next spring. Having built the cleanest car with an internal combustion engine on the planet, there was just one problem: the Civic GX runs on compressed natural gas....and there aren't many filling stations supplying CNG.

Honda has formed an alliance with FuelMaker Corporation to bring to market a practical refuelling appliance that takes advantage of natural gas supplied to homes. The two companies are completing development of a product called Phill which compresses natural gas to the very high pressure needed by the Civic GX.

As part of the alliance, Honda and FuelMaker have announced plans to begin retail sales of the Phill refuelling appliance and Civic GX natural gas vehicle beginning in California in spring 2005. Up to now the car has been sold only to fleets.

Here in Europe the advantages of natural gas fuel are offset by the limited number of CNG stations and the limited driving range of the vehicle - although there is an extensive network in Northern Italy and Germany and a growing one in France. Currently, however, there are no plans to market either the Civic GX or Phill refuelling appliance in Britain. Honda (UK) remains committed to the IMA technology which can be seen in the Insight and Civic four-door models, which have already won more than 2,000 fans.