2007 LA Auto Show: Honda FCX Clarity Preview

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What it Is
Honda FCX Preview - 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show: Clarity. It's the name Honda has given its production fuel cell car, and it's a name you'll want to remember. After years of having fuel cell prototypes in the hands of fleets and even paying customers, Honda makes good on its commitment to a hydrogen future. The 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show was the venue for the introduction of the FCX Clarity, an Accord-sized sedan with styling based on the FCX Concept from a  few years ago that promises to "enable levels of performance room, comfort and dynamic styling previous unattainable in a fuel cell car."

Why it Matters
Notice the price of gas lately? Sure, hydrogen isn't cheaper - yet - but some day those oil wells will be sucking air, and so will 99.99999 percent of cars on the road today. Hydrogen is abundant, but difficult to get at. It's no news that hydrogen holds great promise for the future as a fuel. But exactly what the future might look like was a mystery until this morning, when Honda's FCX Clarity was unveiled. As it turns out, it looks good, and promises to be good for those who can get one.

What's Under the Hood
The V Flow fuel cell powering the FCX features several advances over the one in the smaller FCX prototype that you may have seen before, the one that looks a little like an old Civic. It will be the first production car to feature lithium ion batteries, which gives it a pack that's 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the one in the prototype. The overall powertrain, including the fuel cell and electric motor, is 40 percent smaller, putting it roughly the size of a hybrid powertrain. The output is impressive: 100 kw (that's 134 horsepower to you and me) and a 270 mile range on a tank of fuel. It's the equivalent of 68 mpg.

What it Looks Like
The FCX Clarity looks a lot like the FCX Concept that Honda debuted two years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show. Obvious concessions have been made to production of course, but overall it's a clean, sharp looking sedan that falls somewhere between the Civic and the Accord on the Honda styling tree. But while somewhat futuristic, it's also conventional enough that it won't scare off buyers who don't want to feel like George Jetson. The fuel cell components are distributed evenly through the car for better weight distribution.

What's Inside
The interior is a departure for Honda. Rather than the usual conservative lines, the FCX Clarity features a "floating" dash and center stack, which seem at first to be disconnected from the car. It's a cool effect. Dig deeper though and the control layout is quite conventional, and any Honda driver will likely feel right at home behind the wheel. Because customers will be paying $600 per month on a lease, it's also more luxurious than a conventional Honda, with rich materials and upscale features. The interior materials deserve special mention: Like the rest of the Clarity, they have been designed with the environment in mind, using Honda Bio-Fabric, a plant based material that offers carbon dioxide reductions in production.

What Honda Says
As you can imagine, Honda has a lot to say. According to Tetsuo Iwamura, American Honda president and CEO, "The FCX Clarity is a shining symbol of the progress we've made with fuel cell vehicles and of our belief in the promise of this technology. Step by step, with continuous effort, commitment and focus, we are working to overcome obstacles to the mass-market potential of zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell automobiles." Honda also notes that the FCX Clarity will be available for $600 per month three-year leases in Southern California, where there are three hydrogen refueling stations available. It will also cover collision insurance and maintenance for the life of the lease.

What We Think
Honda one upped everyone else with the promise of a production fuel-cell car, and by making good on that promise, it may even out-green Toyota in the near future. There are obstacles of course: you can't just run down to the corner gas station and get hydrogen, you can't go as far as you can on a tank of fuel as you can in a regular car, and who knows what sort of maintenance problems there may be. Still, this is a promising car, and seeing it is as close as we'll probably get to a crystal ball view of the future.

By Keith Buglewicz
Photos: Honda, Staff

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