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Honda 2000 Accord Certified as Cleanest Gas-Powered Production Car

10 November 1999

New Honda 2000 Accord Certified as Cleanest Gasoline-Powered Production Car In The World

                          First SULEV on the Market

    TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 9 -- A 2000 Honda Accord model has
been certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to the new Super
Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) standard, CARB announced today.
    The Accord SULEV will go on sale in California by January 2000, making it
the first gasoline SULEV on the market; well in advance of requirements and
continuing Honda's leadership in low emission technologies.  The new SULEV
requirements are the most stringent in the world and part of the California
LEV-II exhaust emission standards that go into effect beginning in the 2004
model year.
    "The Super-ULEV Accord is yet another example of Honda's long-standing
commitment to bringing advances in low emissions technology to the market as
soon as technically feasible," said Tom Elliott, executive vice president of
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.  "By the end of 1999, Honda will have already
sold more than one million vehicles in the U.S. equipped with advanced low
emission technology.  And with the addition of the SULEV Accord, more than 85
percent of all Hondas sold during the 2000 model year will be low emission
vehicles."
    The SULEV standards call for a reduction in hydrocarbon emissions of 96
percent from the current federal Tier-1 passenger car levels, and an 86
percent reduction compared to the California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV)
standard.  CARB says that a SULEV vehicle's engine will emit only 2.3 pounds
of ozone forming hydrocarbons during 100,000 miles of driving - about the same
result as spilling a quart of gasoline.
    The SULEV certification will apply to the Accord EX sedan with a
4-cylinder, 2.3-liter engine and automatic transmission.  Building on Honda's
advanced Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) technology, it employs advanced
electronic controls, Honda's patented VTEC (Variable valve Timing and lift
Electronic Control) engine, and new catalytic converter technology.  Plans
call for about 500 Accord SULEV models to be sold each month in California.
    Honda will also certify the 2000 Civic GX to the new SULEV standards.  The
Civic GX is Honda's dedicated natural gas-powered vehicle and is available to
fleet customers nationwide.  Since its introduction in 1998, the Civic GX has
achieved emission levels that are similar to the SULEV standards.  The Civic
GX is powered by the cleanest internal combustion engine ever mass-produced.
    The 2000 Accord SULEV represents Honda's ongoing efforts to reduce
emissions from gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines.  Honda was first
to introduce a gasoline vehicle meeting California's LEV standard and the
first to voluntarily sell LEVs nationwide.  With the 1998 Accord, Honda was
also the first automaker to sell a gasoline vehicle meeting California's ULEV
standard.