How convenient would it be to never have to stop at a gas station? To know that your car would always be fully fueled? Imagine, too, that you'd also get the benefits—tax credits, diamond-lane access—that come with a near-zero-emissions vehicle. And, of course, that Mother Nature would smile upon you.

What I am describing is not a nuclear-powered car, a homebrew hydrogen, a hybrid, or even an electric vehicle. No sleight-of-hand here at all, just an introduction to one of the newest Honda's and its best-buddy, Phill. Did I mention that fueling this car costs half as much as gasoline?

The Natural Gas-Powered 2006 Honda Civic GX, which will go on sale to consumers this fall in New York state, has already been available on a very limited basis in California. CNG vehicles aren't exactly common, but some fleet customers here in the Golden State, like Pacific Gas & Electric, have a bunch of them. There is even a PG&E open-to-the-public CNG fueling station near my home.

But when I first heard about this vehicle, it wasn't the car that caught my eye, but Phill that interested me. The idea of a gas station in my garage is mildly fascinating, especially since I'm already afraid of all the flammables stored there. When I think of compressed natural gas, I think of huge tankers of the stuff, plying the oceans. If there's a problem, instead of the Exxon Valdez, I imagine something more like the Hindenburg. Oil-covered birds? Nah, after one of these tankers goes up, people will be asking "What birds?"

Whether that's really true, I don't know. At any rate, I was imagining something that looks like one of those Suburban Propane trucks coming to the house every week to fill a big CNG tank, which I'd use to fill the car. I envisioned needing heavy gloves to keep from freezing my hands during the fueling process, like the ones the guys who fill camper trailers or BBQ tanks use. No, compressed natural gas isn't something I'd want a tank of sitting around my garage, waiting to fill-up my new Civic.

I sent an e-mail to Chris Naughton, a PR guy at American Honda, asking about things like fire codes and explosions. It turns out I was way off-base. His response: "Phill is a home refueling appliance that takes the natural gas fed into your home and compresses it directly into the tank of your vehicle over a period of several hours. Fire codes in this case are not applicable since it is certified as an appliance, much like a washer or dryer. Building codes do apply, but they should be no more stringent than any other appliance."

So, if the pumps down at the cheap indie gas station on the corner seem to take forever to fill the Excursion, you're going to love your new CNG Civic. But, so long as you remember to connect the car to Phill when you get home, slow refueling shouldn't be a problem.

How does CNG save money? Natural gas, which is domestically produced in the U.S., has always tracked below the price of gasoline, something that doesn't seem to be changing. If you have natural gas at home and buy Phill, you can fuel your CNG Civic for about half what gasoline costs on a per-mile-driven basis. If you don't buy Phill and use a local CNG station instead, the savings drop to about 25 percent, Naughton told me.

There are some obvious limitations to CNG use, at least for now, because the stuff can be pretty hard to find on the open road. That makes CNG a good choice only for drivers who don't stray very far from their new friend, Phill. Electric cars have much the same limitation, which explains why hybrids are popular and the fully-electric models are not.

I should also mention that the CNG Civic is not a "real" part of Honda's product line. Over at Honda's media site, you won't find it with the standard models or even with the hybrids. No, the CNG Civic is with the "corporate" items on the "environmental" page. Thus, you won't be shocked when I tell you Honda expects to sell only about 1,000 of these to consumers.

Who will buy them? According to Naughton, the current customer demographic for the Civic GX is as follows:

This lifestyle is consistent with other "early adopters" that Honda sells to, Naughton said.

The car comes with a five-speed automatic and gets an EPA-estimated fuel economy of 28 mpg city, 39 mpg highway (if the car were running on gasoline, that is). With the price differential, that makes this a very inexpensive vehicle to fuel. It also qualifies for as much as $5,000 in tax credits--$4,000 for the car and another $1,000 for Phill.

The CNG Civic lists for $24,440. Phill, however, is priceless—or, at least, I've asked and Honda hasn't been willing to say. My guess? Add $4,000 for Phill and installation.

I'm not expecting to find a CNG Civic and Phill in my garage anytime soon, if only because there is no way I could actually park a car there. But by the time I clean out enough junk to make space—I'm talking years—lower prices could make CNG and Phill a viable, maybe even an attractive, option. We'll see.