Honda has announced the first limited production of a hydrogen car with 200 of its FCX Clarity model to be released in Japan and the US over the next three years. Meanwhile, Reuters reports on the driving experience of a GM prototype hydrogen vehicle.

The Clarity, like other such cars at the prototype stage at rival carmakers, is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and boasts zero greenhouse gas and other pollutants. It’s only emissions are of water vapour.

Hydrogen fuel-cell cars are said to be the next generation beyond plug-in electric cars, set to arrive in numbers from 2010, and the petrol-electric hybrids currently available.

Honda will only offer the Clarity under lease, at a cost of $600 per month to American motorists.

The company says the car has a range of 270 miles (430 kilometres) per tank, 30 per cent higher than the last model, and can reach a speed of 100 miles per hour (160kmh). Hydrogen consumption is equivalent to 74 miles per gallon, three times greater than that of gasoline.

The Clarity is not Honda’s first hydrogen car but its cost of production has come down substantially from previous attempts after recent advances in fuel cell design. Honda President Takeo Fukui said the car still costs hundred of thousands of dollars to make but it could be made for under $100,000 well within ten years – at which point mass market production will be viable.

The Clarity is only being offered to US residents around Los Angeles where three existing hydrogen fuel stations are located. The lack of retail distribution network for hydrogen fuel is a major factor holding back the advance of the car to mass production.
 
This is one downside among many positives Reuters correspondent Nicola Groom reports from her driving experience in a General Motors’ hydrogen prototype, the Chevy Equinox:

“I noticed it had no tailpipe. Instead, water vapor is emitted from four thin outlets in the back of the vehicle. It felt like hot air. But it wasn't until I turned the car on that I noticed the big difference - no noise. Without the hum of a combustion engine, it didn't feel right.

“From the outside, you can hear airy, swooshing sounds as it powered up and down, which several people I drove with likened to the sound of a very quiet jet engine. On the road, it felt normal except for the high-pitched whistle of compressing gas, a near-constant reminder that I was in a different kind of car. Another difference was its acceleration. Because the engine doesn't have to shift gears, it speeds up with remarkable smoothness.

“But here's the big drawback to hydrogen-powered cars. The Equinox has a range of only 160 to 200 miles on a full tank of hydrogen, and mine only lasted about two days. I took the car to a station near GM's training center, about a 20-minute drive from where I work. A GM engineer refueled for me, a process that took about 15 minutes for half a tank.”


Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, AFP 17/6/08, Reuters 18/6/08