Honda FCX Clarity paves way toward zero-emissions future

The Honda FCX Clarity is a sleekly styled hydrogen fuel cell-electric-powered sedan currently available on a limited retail basis in Southern California. The FCX Clarity is a key part of Honda’s efforts to successfully develop, certify and distribute zero-emissions vehicles.

Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in a fuel cell, the FCX Clarity’s only emission is water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile and two times that of a gasoline-powered hybrid vehicle. The compact and powerful Honda V Flow Fuel Cell Stack allows for unprecedented spaciousness and a futuristically stylish, low-slung design previously unattainable in fuel cell electric vehicles and marks the significant progress that Honda continues to make in advancing the real-world performance and appeal of a fuel cell electric car.

The FCX Clarity lease program marked its two-year anniversary on July 25, 2010. Customers pay $600 per month for three years to lease the FCX Clarity from Honda, which covers maintenance costs. This lease program is the world’s first large-scale retail initiative for fuel cell electric vehicle technology. Since its launch, more than 70,000 individuals have expressed interest in leasing the FCX Clarity and have signed up on the vehicle website: www.fcx.honda.com.

Honda began operation of the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station, a next-generation solar hydrogen station prototype in January 2010, at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. The system is ultimately intended for use as a home-based refueling appliance that is capable of refilling a fuel cell electric vehicle overnight. Compatible with a “smart grid” energy system, the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower CO₂ emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power. During daytime peak power demand, the Solar Hydrogen Station can export renewable electricity to the grid, providing a cost benefit to the customer, while remaining energy neutral.

The original FCX became the first EPA- and CARB-certified fuel cell vehicle in July 2002. The FCX was also the world’s first production fuel cell vehicle, introduced to the U.S. and Japan in October 2002.