Honda unveils production version of the FCX fuel-cell hybrid, the FCX Clarity

We've been tracking Honda's FCX fuel-cell hybrid on and off since we first heard about the concept way back in 2004, and it looks like a lucky few will finally be able to get their hands on one soon -- the company unveiled the production version of the car, the FCX Clarity, at the LA Auto Show earlier today. While it's not clear if the zero-emissions whip still sports that hydrogen-fuel-station-finding GPS system, you'll still be able to get the "gasoline-equivalent" mileage of 68mpg combined city / highway -- but you'll have to extra-special to do it, since Honda is only leasing around 100 of the vehicles to buyers who live near one of its three hydrogen fuel stations in southern California. The rest of us will just have to struggle along with our super eco-friendly Hummer limos, we suppose.

[TheCow5 @ Nov 15th 2007 2:05AM]

I want one, but I have a feeling I would be able to afford it.
any word on the price

[Michael LaFramboise @ Nov 15th 2007 2:38AM]

According to Autoblog - ..."The $600/month price tag will include all maintenance and collision insurance..."

[giyad @ Nov 15th 2007 3:11AM]

$600 a month

[r19578 @ Nov 15th 2007 8:02AM]

$600/month including insurance is a pretty good deal in California, the insurance alone could cost $150 a month over there.

[Tony @ Nov 15th 2007 2:07AM]

It looks suprisingly similar to the Prius.

[Norock @ Nov 15th 2007 3:17PM]

Of course you realize that every hybrid, ever, is practically identical.

[grjohnston @ Nov 15th 2007 11:11AM]

Ditto!

See that black shmear across the back that might be a window? Just like the Prius's. Even has that snub-nosed, high-forehead look to it.

[Ayle @ Nov 15th 2007 12:29PM]

Well the front looks like the Civic one but it's true that the back really looks like the prius one...

[KC @ Nov 15th 2007 12:40PM]

You mean the Honda FCX looks like the Toyota Prius, which looks like the Honda Insight...

[Tony @ Nov 15th 2007 12:43PM]

@KC

You sir, are wrong.

If you are saying they (the Prius and the Insight) look the same because they're both cars, then you might be right. The only thing they have in common other than that, is that they are both hybrids.

Anyone with eyes can see that.

[captain underpants and the bringdown gang @ Nov 15th 2007 2:10AM]

am I the only one who thinks that water vapor is a green haus gas?

[Yossarian @ Nov 15th 2007 2:26AM]

You're correct, water is a greenhouse gas, but unlike carbon dioxide and many others it has a very short residence time in the atmosphere (about 9 days) and is easily removed (by rain). Adding extra water to the atmosphere also increases the rate of removal (chemistry FTW!) so the driving your car too much might cause it to rain more. On top of that, water vapour (i.e. clouds) are able to reflect sunlight, which decreases the effect of global warming.
Generally it's a lot better than the current kind of emissions.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Nov 15th 2007 2:36AM]

very nicely put Yossarian, point for you!

[captain underpants and the bringdown gang @ Nov 15th 2007 5:08PM]

Well made point sir. I was wondering why we never had hydrogen-electric hybrids after all if it works for gasoline why not for hydrogen? or Ethanol? but, I guess Honda was wondering the same thing...

[tubeplus @ Nov 15th 2007 2:11AM]

Is it just me or not? It feels like the window at the back seat looks similar to that of the Prius, and also the black piece of plastic or window at the back of the car.

[mik @ Nov 15th 2007 2:41AM]

i dont think that's plastic.. its the paint and lighting. you also forgot to mention that it has four wheels, also like a prius ;)

but seriously, it looks like it has a smaller engine then your typical car so its bound to look similar to a prius upfront. most americans dont respond well to very small cars so i'm assuming that window in the back is something that the designers needed to do to keep the proportions from going out of whack.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 15th 2007 7:14AM]

I just don't like the look of these cars. Why are the wheels so small? I'm not thinking 22" rims and shit like that, but if I learned anything from Math and Physics, a smaller wheel must make more rotations to maintain the speed of a vehicle with bigger wheels. Not only that, but since the wheel is spinning faster, you'd think that the bearings would wear faster, etc. etc. Sure, it might be easier to spin those wheels (and maybe that's why they are so small) but give me cars that look like the concept future cars with bigger diameter wheels.

And I don't like the big ass on this car either. I don't mind small cars, but like my RX8, they don't have to drag around 40 tons of aluminum ass.

[Tony @ Nov 15th 2007 11:24AM]

@Andi3.0

A friend of mine owns a Prius. Those come with small wheels as well, he had them replaced the moment he bought the car. The small wheels feel horrible on the road according to him, and they offer very little control. With the bigger wheels, the weight actually causes a decrease in gas mileage, I assume that's why they use smaller wheels.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 15th 2007 3:19PM]

It's not the weight, usually aftermarket rims/tires are lighter than stock. If he went with a bigger radius, it actually costs more to get the car moving (torque) using bigger wheels than the small things, but once it's going (highway) mileage should go up.

[Raphael @ Nov 15th 2007 2:13AM]

"Gasoline equivalent" is a strange unit. I hope someone comes up with a better measure for a vehicle's efficiency or environmental-impact. For example, the hydrogen or electricity powering your future car might come from oil-burning powerplants so it would be interesting to know how much fossil-fuel goes into driving the thing.

[BigD145 @ Nov 15th 2007 3:27AM]

That's actually very easy. Switch over to "calories" and you're all set. A drop of oil is somewhere on the order of 10000 calories or about 20-40 man hours of work. I think those numbers are roughly correct. There's only one guy I know of that's actually done the math/chemistry of it all.

It takes half a barrel (on average) of oil burned to get the next barrel of oil out of the ground. Combustion engine vehicles burn off half or more of their calories in heat. Total waste all around.

Hydrogen can be produced with little more than the proper apparatus, adding water, and applying a current for a solar panel. Fuel cell engines can produce water as a byproduct. There's loss, but there's also gain. You can't say the same for oil.

[nikola @ Nov 15th 2007 1:27PM]

If you care soo much about having powerplant emissions then go look online and buy some carbon emissions offsets. SHEESH.

The rest of us will be quite happy cutting out that trip the gas station and blowing toxic smoke out a pipe a few feet from where our kids sit.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Nov 15th 2007 2:34AM]

While this obviously has flaws (as any first gen product does) - this is absolutely wonderful news! - After hearing companies bragging about this tech for years and years, its nice to finally see something real that can be purchased by the consumer.

Now lets just hope that others (yes, I'm looking at you GM) - will follow Honda be it w/ electric, hydrogen or even more efficient hybrids - any progress is good.

[mmh @ Nov 15th 2007 2:40AM]

"Wedge of cheese" comes to mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwILvtXpZoE

[Patrick @ Nov 15th 2007 3:01AM]

Wonderful, only leasing options again so they can pull the same stuff they did with the first EVs.

...which is forbid the users from buying or renewing and then crush the cars.

[lettcco @ Nov 15th 2007 3:28AM]

but this around they are not doing this to satisfy any kind of mandate...or is there one i am not aware of?

[militaryjeepcrv @ Nov 16th 2007 1:00AM]

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR.... watch it... when i read lease i thought, here we go again

[Camperton @ Nov 15th 2007 3:06AM]

I want one!

[Camperton @ Nov 15th 2007 3:06AM]

I want one!

[Camperton @ Nov 15th 2007 3:07AM]

Sorry about the double post.

[eberan @ Nov 15th 2007 6:36AM]

This isn't a hybrid, it's a hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle. So change the title.

That said, I've been excited about this since they first showed it. I'm happy to see it's made it this far! Lets just hope it doesn't end up like the EV1 :/

[r19578 @ Nov 15th 2007 7:51AM]

I want one but I'm in Chicago ... it looks better than the prototype.

[EDR229 @ Nov 15th 2007 7:55AM]

Honda are doing the right thing. There will be those who take issue with buyers needing to "qualify" to own one, but this is so Honda can properly conduct this public beta test of the car - which is really what this is.

They are also doing what other manufacturer's are unwilling to do - to try and introduce a catalyst into the market to increase the numbers of hydrogen pumps available for public use.

Personally, I can't wait until Honda have perfected the "Home Energy Station" where one can refill their car at home from their natural gas line (and possibly also create some usable power for the household, as well. This is similar to their strategy for compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles, and I think is the wave of the future.

Yes, Toyota has the hybrid market for now, but they simply aren't as 'green' as the direction Honda is going with the FCX Clarity, and I expect this technology along with the ability to refuel at home will secure Honda's leadership position in the future.

[eberan @ Nov 15th 2007 8:29AM]

I also like their idea of the Home Energy Station, but honestly I'd rather have a solar powered station running some electrolysis for fuel creation. Of course in reality you would probably need some power from the grid, but cutting back on unnecessary driving and having some high capacity H2 tanks would be a great home fueling station!

[johnzilla @ Nov 15th 2007 8:35AM]

Honda is not the only company doing hydrogen, and Toyota and Honda are not the only automakers in the world (though I realize most people think that's true). Ford already has production hydrogen vehicles on the road, had working hydrogen-fueled ICEs (internal combustion engines) more than three years ago, and debuted a hydrogen-powered SUV (the Ford HyEdge) at the NYC auto show last April. To tag Honda as the "leader" this early in the game is a little premature.

[amcman @ Nov 15th 2007 12:56PM]

It's a Honda Prius with a bad transmission.

[tealfixie @ Nov 15th 2007 1:14PM]

Why can't US automakers make nice hybrid cars? Seems like Toyota and Honda are dominating the hybrid market. Given our current trade deficit, if we don't do something about what we export and continue to import at this rate, we're gonna be in big trouble. Our currency is already dropping like a stone against the euro. Once china begins to prefer the euro against the dollar, sh is gonna hit the fan.

My say, US auto makers need to make excellent hybrids that out perform the competition and export it to the world. We need to go Green to save ourselves... and the planet too.

[amcman @ Nov 15th 2007 1:29PM]

Also seeing a trend with Toyota since they started making cars in the U.S, everything is larger and larger every year.

[nikola @ Nov 15th 2007 1:55PM]

LOL the US automakers aren't going to be making any hybrids worth looking at. They are going to support gas taxes that push the burden onto us. Hopefully they will bankrupt soon and be bought out by companies that DO support electric/non-gas cars.

[ugg.tryptophan @ Nov 15th 2007 3:38PM]

way to make a cool concept look boring honda

[captain underpants and the bringdown gang @ Nov 15th 2007 5:10PM]

Maybe we should make hydrogen processing facilities in space? just need to figure out that damn lack of gravity problem...

[dean @ Nov 19th 2007 12:29AM]

For some reason, I remember media saying that this car would be produced in large numbers, almost like a regular niche car in Honda's lineup. But its not.

Ebaren, it is a hybrid I believe. I think it recaptures energy when braking, adds it to the Lithium-ion battery pack.

Well, couple this with the new efficient hydrogen production method that is in the news, looks like Hydrogen may have a future.