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2016 Honda Civic Coupe starts at $19,885, Touring for $26,960

Honda has posted prices for the 2016 Civc Coupe, which we liked quite a bit during our First Drive. The base LX trim starts at $19,885 (after $835 destination for all models). That's $410 more than the 2016 sedan in LX guise, which goes for $19,475. The previous-gen 2015 Civic Coupe LX went for $19,125. Honda keeps the features of the respective trim levels largely the same between the coupe and sedan. Even base cars come with amenities like LED running lights and a five-inch infotainment system. Where the two-door differs slightly is the unique LX-P version, which costs $21,685. It uses the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque, but gets the CVT standard. The LX-P also includes a moonroof, keyless entry with push-button start, and a remote engine starter. If you want to experience Honda's lauded 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder's 174 hp and 162 lb-ft in the coupe, the least expensive option is the EX-T trim for $23,135. It also includes a seven-inch infotainment system, automatic climate control, and heated seats. The model is also only $100 more than the same version of the sedan. According to the numbers currently on Honda's site, the top two coupe trims are actually cheaper than their four-door counterparts. The EX-L with leather upholstery and an auto-dimming rearview mirror costs $24,260 as a two-door versus $24,535 as a sedan. The range-topping Touring model costs $26,960 and includes the Honda Sensing active safety suite, navigation, LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers and heated mirrors. In comparison, the Touring sedan sells for $27,335. We'll have to wait a little longer before the actual configurator is available to pretend that we're building our own. Related Video:

Honda Smart Home, NJ dealer show the power of solar

Car dealerships are not usually thought of as "green" enterprises. They sell, after all, the fossil fuel-powered vehicles that account for about 18 percent of the CO2 emissions created in the US each year. As demonstrated by Rossi Honda in Vineland, NJ though, it doesn't have to be that way. Sure, the franchise still sells cars - lots of them - but they power the entire operation with sunlight in a way that provides ancillary benefits. The franchise has installed over 900 solar panels to become electric-grid neutral. Owned and operated by the seemingly indefatigable Ron Rossi, the franchise has installed over 900 solar panels to become electric-grid neutral. They aren't plastered across the roof of the showroom and service center, though. Instead, the array is mounted on canopies over his inventory, protecting them from sun, snow, and hail. Costing about $1.3 million to install, Rossi expects the system to save twice that amount in electricity bills over its 25-year life expectancy. Not bad, right? It makes us wonder why all dealerships don't do this. Honda itself recently completed its own solar project. The super-efficient Honda Smart Home is equipped, not only with its own beefy 9.5-kW solar array, but also with a 10-kWh lithium battery-based stationary storage system to buffer the building's electricity. Amongst its many party tricks, the home incorporates a DC-to-DC charging set up that allows the complimentary Fit EV to charge with half the efficiency losses of a typical home charging unit. While the installation is quite impressive and will serve as a "laboratory" of sorts for different groups involved with the project at the University of California, Davis, we can't help but wonder if the Japanese automaker couldn't get a bigger bang for its environmental buck elsewhere. A program, perhaps, to help its many franchise dealers to take up the Rossi challenge and go grid neutral. You can watch Rossi show off his array and other increased efficiency efforts by scrolling below for a pair of videos: one from Honda and one produced by Automotive News. As a bonus, we have time-lapse footage of the Honda Smart Home going up accompanied by press releases discussing both efforts. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party.

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining