Honda VV Latest in Honda Family of Environmentally Responsible Vehicles

DETROIT, Jan. 4, 1999 — The Honda VV represents Honda's latest achievement in Honda's long history of producing cleaner, more efficient, low-polluting automobiles. When it goes into production later this year, the VV will be one of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world with an EPA fuel-economy rating in excess of 70 mpg combined city/highway, and will meet California's Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standard.

In the 1999 model year, nearly two-thirds of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S.—more than 650,000 vehicles—will be equipped with advanced low-emission technology. This represents an increase of more than 200,000 low-emission vehicles over the previous model year.

With the introduction of the VV and S2000 in the 2000 model year, Honda's clean-air lineup will boast seven vehicles with advanced low-emission technology.

Honda's clean-air lineup for the 1999 calendar year will include the:

• Honda VV hybrid vehicle
• Odyssey minivan (LEV)
• EV PLUS electric vehicle
• Civic GX natural-gas vehicle
• Accord Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV Accord)
• Civic Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV)
• Honda S2000 roadster (LEV)

Since American Honda Motor Co., Inc., began selling cars in the U.S. in 1970, the company has worked hard to balance the needs of its customers with the needs of society as a whole. This has meant developing more environmentally friendly vehicles while delivering the performance, quality and reliability that consumers expect from the Honda name. The Honda VV is the latest in a comprehensive list of Honda vehicles to rise to this challenge.

The first Honda vehicle to meet the environmental challenge was the 1975 Civic CVCC, the first car in the world to meet the strict emission requirements of the 1970 Clean Air Act without the use of a catalytic converter. Since then, Honda has continued to expand its environmental lineup. With the introduction of the VV, Honda will have vehicles powered by gasoline, compressed natural gas (CNG), electricity and gas-electric hybrid power.

In 1995, several Civic models became the first mass-produced vehicles to achieve LEV certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), with emissions reduced by 50 percent over previous models. Two years later, the 1998 Accord became the first gasoline-powered vehicle to meet California's more stringent Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) certification. And in 1998, Honda began selling the CNG-powered Civic GX, the cleanest vehicle ever made with an internal combustion engine.

In the category of Zero-Level Emission Vehicles (ZLEV), Honda began a pilot lease program of its EV PLUS electric vehicle, the first production EV to employ advanced nickel-metal hybrid battery technology.

At the 1997,Tokyo Motor Show, Honda displayed a prototype ZLEV engine with virtually zero tailpipe emissions—and in some conditions, negative emissions—the air coming out of the tailpipe being cleaner than the ambient air going into the engine.