AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

2009 Honda FCX Clarity
The First Fuel Cell Production Car?

This week, at the L.A. Auto Show, Honda unveiled the FCX Clarity show car. This car looks very similar to the FCX that was first shown as a concept car in 2005. Last year, Honda showed a drivable version. This year's car is a production-ready prototype, with a finished interior and refined mechanicals. Honda expects to lease several hundred of these cars starting mid-2008. By that time, General Motors may have 100 fuel-cell powered Chevrolet Equinox CUVs on the road, but these are more proof-of-concept vehicles than true production cars.

What makes the FCX unique is that it is powered by a fuel cell coupled to a lithium-ion battery pack. The fuel cell provides for a range of 270 miles on nine pounds of hydrogen. The energy-efficient car is claimed to yield the equivalent of 68 mpg. The hydrogen is packed in carbon fiber storage tanks compressed to 5,000 psi pressure. Note that General Motors' Equinox fuel cell pilot vehicles store their hydrogen at 10,000 psi, so perhaps through technology sharing there is the possibility of doubling the unrefueled range without increasing the space required by the hydrogen.

Where will customers get their hydrogen? Well, the first leases will be in southern California where hydrogen refueling stations are already in place. In the future, the hydrogen could come from your own home. Simultaneously with the FCX Clarity, Honda announced the Experimental Home Energy station IV. The Home Energy Station, a natural gas fueled hydrogen reformer, was designed to provide hydrogen for a vehicle for "daily use" plus a household's daily electricity requirement. Actually, the home energy station is both a natural gas reformer and a 5-kilowatt residential fuel cell with capability to serve as a back-up generator -- or even a cogenerator if it's hooked into the power grid.

Honda plans to lease the FCX Clarity for $600/month including maintenance and collision insurance. I currently lease a $25,000 vehicle for $535 per month not including insurance or maintenance, so Honda's price is quite competitive for a high tech vehicle with serious green street cred. Among the Hollywood elite, once the FCX hits the streets, the Toyota Prius will be (in the words of Hillary Duff) "So Yesterday."

Source (unless otherwise noted): Autoblog Green