Honda's FC Sport fuel-cell hybrid debuts in a puff of conceptual smoke

If the Tesla Roadster has proven anything other than the disruptive effects of a hyper-inflated ego, it's that well designed eco-vehicles will sell... at any price. Yet the general design theme amongst hybrid builders appears to be your grandfather's loafer. Honda too, just look at the FCX Clarity. So we're pretty stoked to see Honda roll out its FC Sport concept three-seater (driver front-and-center) at the LA Auto Show using the same V-Flow fuel cell stack and electric drivetrain found in the FCX Clarity. Only thing is, it's a non-functional concept with little hope of hitting the market anytime soon if history serves. Good news for GM but bad news for consumers. As a wise man of consumer electronics once said:

"You know how you see a show car, and it's really cool, and then four years later you see the production car, and it sucks? And you go, What happened? They had it! They had it in the palm of their hands! They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory! What happened was, the designers came up with this really great idea. Then they take it to the engineers, and the engineers go, 'Nah, we can't do that. That's impossible.' And so it gets a lot worse. Then they take it to the manufacturing people, and they go, 'We can't build that!' And it gets a lot worse."

Or to paraphrase: It's like asking for a Big Mac and getting a fish sandwich.

Read -- Parable of the Concept Car
Read -- FC Sport

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 20th 2008 4:00AM]

Looks stupid

[High Ranks make you sterile @ Nov 20th 2008 4:16AM]

I concur.

CARS WILL NEVER LOOK LIKE THIS!!!!!!

Despite what Marty saw, 2015 is approaching, and we're (thank god) a long ways away from these designs. I'd rather they work on making my cars fly than making them look so sleek or something.

[patriotsn1 @ Nov 20th 2008 4:25AM]

wtf are you talking about? Marty DROVE a DeLorean DMC-12. Those sexy beasts EXISTED and looked more futuristic than this wanna-be euro trash.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 20th 2008 4:35AM]

First Honda are Japanese secondly the delorean was designed and built Ireland.
You= dumbass
Pilock

[patriotsn1 @ Nov 20th 2008 4:44AM]

When someone puts the words "wanna-be" in a sentence, it usually implies that the referred object isn't actually the object that it would like to be. Also, when the term euro-trash is used in reference to vehicles, it usually implies Ferrari's and Lamborghini's. ( Yes I used to think they were "cool" too but then I moved to LA and saw the true meaning of euro trash and they do indeed drive said vehicles) I'm simply saying that in my opinion, aside from the terrible terrible front end, the rest of this car looks like a sad Lamborghini.



Also... I don't think that the DeLorian "built Ireland"... but I'll be sure to google that.

sir.

[Rynth @ Nov 20th 2008 6:35AM]

People who say cars will never look like this.

Pfft, have you seen the new Lamborghini?

[Magallanes @ Nov 20th 2008 8:28AM]

Look like a Hotwheels.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Nov 20th 2008 8:51AM]

Don't you dare speak that way about Marty! You're not even half the man he was.

[HunterXI @ Nov 20th 2008 1:24PM]

The elegance of a McLaren F1 combined with the sleekness of a caveman's forehead.

The Honda FC: a revolution in automobile hideousness.

[SpydaKat 17 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:39PM]

No...just no.

[maveric101 @ Nov 20th 2008 11:00PM]

like rynth, i was gonna say, not too much different from a lambo:

http://www.lamborghiniphotos.info/photos/Lamborghini-Murcielago-012.jpg

[Vagrant @ Nov 20th 2008 4:03AM]

"Or to paraphrase: It's like asking for a Big Mac and getting a fish sandwich."

How dare you! I love that fish sandwich...but I get the point. It is funny how want goes to meh when it hits the street.

[Techie @ Nov 20th 2008 4:03AM]

I don't know why but I'm expecting the car to say "Honda TRANSFORM!"

[superfresh @ Nov 20th 2008 9:24AM]

I'm expecting to sing The Thong Song.

[iEye @ Nov 20th 2008 4:09AM]

Storm Troopers need cars too!

[Plothole @ Nov 20th 2008 4:49AM]

Hopefully they drive better than they shoot.

[Mike10010100 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:26AM]

iEye, if you have turned over a new leaf, and promise never to post about Apple again, you are quite witty. Keep up the good work.

[4honor @ Nov 20th 2008 8:50AM]

Looks like something Samus from Metroid Prime would drive when not flying... Anyone else see the triangular shape that resembles the helmet?

[nzo @ Nov 20th 2008 11:35AM]

They already have one.

http://sentinelguild.com/nzo/Images/b71f8e80.jpg

[anthony909 @ Nov 20th 2008 11:04PM]

no they dont...thats stupid! y r u scared to post about apple?

[skittles @ Nov 20th 2008 4:12AM]

I think the overall body design looks hot...but the front end looks like a confused Chinaman staring into the distance

I'd say it needs work but i guess if it goes, it goes !

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Nov 20th 2008 8:52AM]

Dude, "chinaman" is not the preferred nomenclature.

[7on @ Nov 20th 2008 9:34AM]

Yeah, it's Jap

[absurdio @ Nov 20th 2008 11:02AM]

Forget it, 7on, you're out of your element.

[Plothole @ Nov 20th 2008 4:13AM]

This looks like something straight out of Back to the Future 2. (or any number of 80s-early 90s science fictions)

[Rakar @ Nov 20th 2008 4:17AM]

I kind of like it, actually.

[gerrrg @ Nov 20th 2008 4:20AM]

Y'all are blind.

Autobots, transform!

[AlDeezy @ Nov 20th 2008 4:25AM]

Sexxxxyyy! Put it on my tab. ;-0

[Pretol @ Nov 20th 2008 4:27AM]

the cars is ok, the front is ugly though... I don't even think that's debatable...

the reason why cars look good is because people don't realize that they're not going to get 325 width rubber on a 23 inch rim with the body sitting 2" off the ground on their civic. Of course, designers will put them on their demo cars; and at the same time, of course, what you're going to get is a regular 15" rim with 185's that'll be jacked up for roadability. I've had this comparison on many cars (demo vs production), and it's ALWAYS the wheels and the height. But honestly, take any car and slam it and it'll look "good". It's not a complicated formula.

[Vidikron @ Nov 20th 2008 9:48AM]

That's part of it, sure, but it goes far beyond that. You act like the only difference between what we see in the demo and production are the rims and how high it sits off the ground. Take a look at what happened to the Chevy Volt. The demo looked similar to this car with bold lines and agressive styling, but the production vehicle looks like a bastard child of Chevy and Acura. A lot more than the rims changed.

[josh @ Nov 20th 2008 3:55PM]

Fuck the rims!!!!!!

[digitallysick @ Nov 20th 2008 4:35AM]

I think it looks great? nice design

[Bjsfreaked @ Nov 20th 2008 4:39AM]

is it me or are they going for a similar look to the audi that was used in that futuristic film I Robot?

[BlissX @ Nov 20th 2008 4:49AM]

So, how'd you come up with the design, Jim?

I had a dream that I crashed my car headon into a wall.

[Machocheese @ Nov 20th 2008 5:03AM]

looks like the ford GT90 concept

[ilh @ Nov 20th 2008 5:11AM]

Why'd they make it all sleek, and then put a lorry front on it? Nothing like a car with a brick wall on the front to cut through the air.

[PyRo1509 @ Nov 20th 2008 5:30AM]

I don't get fuel cell...

-Expensive
-Energy inefficient (hydrogen has to come from somewhere... oh thank you shell)
-Infrastructure

just put a damn battery in the thing and give me the option to throw a small generator in the thing if I ever needed it..

[psfour @ Nov 20th 2008 8:15AM]

Yer like theres an infrastructure for electric cars. Everybody gonna run a cable from there house to there car without some body coming along and ripping out the cable in the middle of the night. Hydrogen is the future.

[PeriodicPoster @ Nov 20th 2008 9:12AM]

infrastructure:

not only is honda making hydrogen cars, it's also working on the infrastructure issue. it's not the final answer, but it's a great start.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/home-energy-station.aspx

[Mike @ Nov 20th 2008 3:12PM]

@psfour:

Really? No electric infrastructure? At all?

Shit, what's my power bill for then...

[PyRo1509 @ Nov 20th 2008 3:13PM]

Home hydrogen generator..

Where are you gonna get your volts and amps from.. The same power grid as an electric car.
Its just adding another 20% of wasted power.

but if you think its a good idea... than you also think translating this post to german and back to english is the proper way to read a post.

I still dont see why hydrogen is better than just straight electrons.
You can refuel pretty quickly? You can already get a full charge in some electric cars in 10 minutes @ 400volts
I dont mind pulling into a station along the freeway... sitting for 10 minutes as they show me commericals which in itself pays nearly pays for the power im using.
Ad supported transportation :)

[Bad Beaver @ Nov 20th 2008 5:51AM]

Looks neat. More MASK than Transformers I'd say. Too bad this will suffer from a weight problem due to all the bass speakers needed to give it a sound that corresponds well with the look.

[Jingo @ Nov 20th 2008 6:05AM]

When did we go from being Americans to American'ts?

[PyRo1509 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:42AM]

December 2nd 1981
... Britney Spears birthday...

[Ric Kaysen @ Nov 20th 2008 7:13AM]

"You know how you see a show car, and it's really cool, and then four years later you see the production car, and it sucks? And you go, What happened? They had it! They had it in the palm of their hands! They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory! What happened was, the designers came up with this really great idea. Then they take it to the engineers, and the engineers go, 'Nah, we can't do that. That's impossible.' And so it gets a lot worse. Then they take it to the manufacturing people, and they go, 'We can't build that!' And it gets a lot worse."

"splains the Volt.

[psfour @ Nov 20th 2008 8:12AM]

To low to be practical. You would smash the bumpera at the first speed bump. But yet again its a concept car so wont even be made.

[Mike C @ Nov 20th 2008 8:48AM]

I'm not saying it looks bad, it just looks...backwards?

[elloh7 @ Nov 20th 2008 9:17AM]

What happened was, the designers came up with this really great idea. Then they take it to the engineers, and the engineers go, 'Nah, we can't do that. That's impossible.' And so it gets a lot worse. Then they take it to the manufacturing people, and they go, 'We can't build that!' ......

.....and then they take it to the accountants, and the accountants say "You want HOW much to build WHAT?! HELL NO!"

[Jason @ Nov 20th 2008 11:02AM]

Even *IF* the accountants gave the engineers and manufacturers enough money to build it, the 'health and safety' people would just muck it up in the end.

[patrick @ Nov 20th 2008 9:47AM]

looks like star wars' clone/star trooper mobile.. looks good though.