Starting this summer, $600 / month will buy you one of the first fuel cell vehicles in the world. Of course, they aren't selling very many of them, and if you don't live in Torrance, Irvine, or Santa Monica, California, they aren't selling them at all. While GM is basically giving away it's fuel cell Chevy Equnox's, Honda is the first ever major car company to lease them.
Of course, Honda won't be making any money off the cars, but they did come in first in this particular race. But this is only one battle in the long-standing fuel cell war between GM and Honda.
The FCX Clarity is a gorgeous car. I honestly wish they just made a hybrid version with the same body. But, instead, (and unlike the Equinox) it's a fuel-cell only model. This worked well, of course, for Toyota with their hybrid only model. But the landscape with fuel cell vehicles is quite different, especially since there is no hydrogen fueling (or production) infrastructure in place.
The 600 / m leases expire in three years and include maintenance. The Clarity can travel 270 miles on a tank of hydrogen. Roughly equal to that of a gasoline powered car. Unfortunately, owners will be limited to a fairly small area of driving, since they'll need to be sure to get back to one of the few local fueling stations every 270 miles.
Via Honda
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written by bruin nut, May 27, 2008
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written by spfl49, May 28, 2008
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written by bruin nut, May 28, 2008
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written by spfl49, May 28, 2008
Is that $3 per gallon equivalent a true cost price or what it is set at. In other words; is it a price that they can realistically target for mass production in the future?
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written by bruin nut, May 29, 2008
I think American Honda must arbitrarily set the price for the Hydrogen. The true cost of the car and the fuel must be pretty high. Honda thought about offering the hydrogen without charge, but decided not to do so since they wanted the customers to have an authentic driving experience.
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written by Thomas Uhing, May 31, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhSP8b1OBAg
Is this all just B.S.? Hardly, not when facts are mentioned and resources like NASA can be verified. The rumor has it that this TV video spot was taken down before the public could see it... and Stan Meyers was killed under suspicious circumstances. Are we afraid of something, that the Truth is always suppressed?
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written by Miguel, June 02, 2008
Honda’s achievement in making the FCX Clarity available marks the first step in allowing consumers to adopt hydrogen technologies in the automotive sector. The FCX Clarity only represents a portion of Honda’s work in developing hydrogen technologies for consumers. Honda has partnered with fuel cell manufacturer, Plug Power, to develop a Home Energy Station. The most recent generation of the unit support electricity and heat needs for the home, in addition to producing hydrogen in the home using natural gas. These units are designed to support the need for a hydrogen refueling infrastructure, while providing consumers a way to cut energy costs by 50 percent and carbon emissions by an estimated 30 percent.
To learn more about the benefits of hydrogen, we invite everyone to please visit www.h2andyou.org.
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written by The Food Monster, June 17, 2008
I wasn't expecting such great eco things out of Honda. I am glad they are heading in the right direction. I can't wait to have a Hydrogen filling station at my house with my own Hydrogen fuel cell car.
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written by Bob Hart, June 23, 2008
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written by Honda Leasing, August 19, 2008
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