Honda rolls out new zero-emission car

[neshapop]

A new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Honda production line in Japan on Monday and is headed to southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/, which runs on hydrogen to generate electricity, emits only water from its tailpipe and none of the gases believed to cause global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.
Honda expects to lease out a "few dozen" cars this year and about 200 more within a year. In California, a three-year lease will run $600 US a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

Among the first customers are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film producer Ron Yerxa, as well as businessmen Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon.

"It's so smooth," said Harris, who played villainess Marie Warner on the hit TV show 24. "It's like a future machine, but it's not."

Few hydrogen fuel stations

The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of hydrogen fuel stations. For the Clarity's release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications through its website, but considered only buyers living near hydrogen fuel stations in Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine.

"This is indeed a historic day for both Honda and American Honda — a new chapter in our nearly 50-year history in America," said John Mendel, a senior vice-president at America Honda Motor Co. at a morning ceremony here.
"It's an especially significant day for American Honda as we plant firm footsteps toward the mainstreaming of fuel cell cars."

Initially, however, the Clarity will go only to a chosen few starting July and then launch in Japan this fall. Although Honda Motor Co. was the first Japanese automaker to launch a gas-electric hybrid vehicle in the U.S. in 1999, it has been outpaced by the dominance of Toyota's popular Prius.
Toyota announced in May that it has sold more than one million Prius hybrids, while both the Honda Insight and the hybrid Accord have been discontinued due to poor sales.

The FCX Clarity is part of Honda's plan to keep pace with rivals in green technology. It also plans to launch a gas-electric hybrid model, as well as new hybrid versions of the Civic, the sporty CR-Z concept and Fit subcompact.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/200...cxclarity.html

[redTT]

After all these years of talking what has GM released, for some reason GM is the first one to talk it up and the last to be in the party.

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted by redTT

After all these years of talking what has GM released, for some reason GM is the first one to talk it up and the last to be in the party.

GM already has fuel cell Equinox's on the road. They certainly aren't last to the party unless Honda's lease payment that only covers a small fraction of the cost of the vehicle makes them better somehow. GM is calling theirs a test fleet and Honda is saying their selling them but theirs is really just a test fleet as well. I do applaud Honda for making a dedicated car for this technology however. It will certainly make the car more appealing in the media but doesn't necessarily help move the fuel cell movement along any faster since all the technology that needs to be developed is in the fuel cell, not the car so much.

[johnstarnes]

I've dreamed of fuel cell cars since the 1980's and this car both looks and IS awesome!

[minnfang]

I can't wait to see the first pictures of actors sitting on the roadside out of fuel. Common sense regarding being near a hydrogen fueling station as the tank runs low will most likely elude many of them.

That said, congrats to Honda. Although the fueling infrastructure is not ready for the Clarity, the car itself is pretty cool and a big step in the right direction.

[mgescuro]

Honda rolls out new zero-emission car



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...DTL&type=autos

Honda's new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Japanese production line Monday and is headed to Southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity, which runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water and none of the noxious fumes believed to induce global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.

Japan's third biggest automaker expects to lease out a "few dozen" units this year and about 200 units within three years. In California, a three-year lease will run $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

Among the first customers are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film producer Ron Yerxa, as well as businessmen Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon.

"It's so smooth," said Harris, who played villainness Marie Warner on the hit TV show "24" and was flown over by Honda for the ceremony. "It's like a future machine, but it's not."

The FCX Clarity is an improvement of its previous-generation fuel cell vehicle, the FCX, introduced in 2005.

A breakthrough in the design of the fuel cell stack, which is the unit that powers the car's motor, allowed engineers to lighten the body, expand the interior and increase efficiency, Honda said.

The fuel cell draws on energy synthesized through a chemical reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen in the air, and a lithium-ion battery pack provides supplemental power. The FCX Clarity has a range of about 270-miles per tank with hydrogen consumption equivalent to 74 miles per gallon, according to the carmaker.

The 3,600-pound vehicle can reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

.....

U.S. carmaker General Motors Corp. plans to introduce a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle in 2010. It also introduced a test-fleet of hydrogen fuel cell Equinox SUVs.



More at Link

For a company whose hybrid ads knock the Prius for looking like a cheese wedge, does the Clarity have to look like a cheese wedge??

[Clownzilla]

Impressive car but this is pure propaganda on Honda's part. Unfortunately, most people will only see the $600 a month lease rate and think that Honda is AMAZING to bring a car to market at this price. There won't be one of these SOLD in MASS QUANTITY for years. I don't know what the price of one of these sold would be but I bet it would be around $200,000. They will be hard pressed to make more than 200 of these for lease given a price like that.Good that Honda is experimenting with Hydrogen though, GM is next at bat in this department

[vsd]

It's a step in the right direction. I believe that hydrogen is the best path to energy independence. Hydrogen can be completely made here in the US, and the style of refueling the car isn't too different from what it is now, and doesn't require lengthy charging like batteries do. All that is needed is a new gas station infrastructure, maybe Exxon can use some of their $40,000,000,000 profits to build it, and the US can build some dedicated power plants to make hydrogen, which will create many jobs. Many car manufactures have working hydrogen prototypes running around already, so I hope it isn't too far off so we can get off oil, and stop disrupting the food supply w/ ethanol.

[benroethig]

Its an operation test, but a good idea. We're still at least a decade or more from being practical, but you have to start somewhere.

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by Clownzilla

Impressive car but this is pure propaganda on Honda's part. Unfortunately, most people will only see the $600 a month lease rate and think that Honda is AMAZING to bring a car to market at this price. There won't be one of these SOLD in MASS QUANTITY for years. I don't know what the price of one of these sold would be but I bet it would be around $200,000. They will be hard pressed to make more than 200 of these for lease given a price like that.Good that Honda is experimenting with Hydrogen though, GM is next at bat in this department

GM was 'at bat' before Honda, with the Project Driveway Equinoxes. And they aren't just in SoCal, they're in New York and D.C. as well, and GM pays for everything, including fuel.

"Families will have vehicles for three months and won't be charged for the use of the vehicles or the fuel but will have to provide feedback on their experiences. This will be the largest field test of fuel cell vehicles ever done and lessons learned from it will be applied to the development of the fuel cell version of the Chevy Volt."

Sure, it's only 3 months, but GM isn't charging you $600 a month to provide real-world test data for them like Honda is, nor are they making you pay for the fuel like Honda does. These hit the streets last year.

[Mikkoo]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

GM was 'at bat' before Honda, with the Project Driveway Equinoxes. And they aren't just in SoCal, they're in New York and D.C. as well, and GM pays for everything, including fuel.

"Families will have vehicles for three months and won't be charged for the use of the vehicles or the fuel but will have to provide feedback on their experiences. This will be the largest field test of fuel cell vehicles ever done and lessons learned from it will be applied to the development of the fuel cell version of the Chevy Volt."

Sure, it's only 3 months, but GM isn't charging you $600 a month to provide real-world test data for them like Honda is, nor are they making you pay for the fuel like Honda does. These hit the streets last year.

Good points. The media wants to make it seem that Honda has re-invented the wheel,
and they were first out with this hydrogen car. Not so, GM was there first.!

[Sporer65]

Good job Honda. But I wonder how how the cars are going to be refueled.

[Joevette]

this isn't news, i remember hearing about this car a long time ago, prob 1-2 years, why is it news a again?

[KingElvis]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

GM was 'at bat' before Honda, with the Project Driveway Equinoxes. And they aren't just in SoCal, they're in New York and D.C. as well, and GM pays for everything, including fuel.

"Families will have vehicles for three months and won't be charged for the use of the vehicles or the fuel but will have to provide feedback on their experiences. This will be the largest field test of fuel cell vehicles ever done and lessons learned from it will be applied to the development of the fuel cell version of the Chevy Volt."

Sure, it's only 3 months, but GM isn't charging you $600 a month to provide real-world test data for them like Honda is, nor are they making you pay for the fuel like Honda does. These hit the streets last year.

Actually, both efforts sound similar to what Chrysler did with their turbine car in the sixties.

And that's why we have turbine engines today...

[TruckMan]

Manufacturers have been working on Hydrogen fuel cells for years. The bottom line is that Hydrogen is way too expensive and inefficient to make. No other technology can even come close to the efficiency and affordability of gasoline. And sorry to burst everybody's bubble, but >80% of America only cares about the costs of fuel, not the source. I think we need to find cheaper sources of hydrocarbon based fuels (like more local exploration & drilling, algea based, etc.) and forget about all these other pipe dreams.