Honda FCX Clarity driven
Hydrogen fuel cell car
On sale in Japan and California
100mph/100mpg
For more than 10 years, hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars have been about 10 years away. The bad news is, they're still around 10 years away. Although not for everyone.
Honda's FCX Clarity is the world's first production fuel cell car, available in Japan and in California. Although there are no plans to bring the car to the UK (a great shame) it does give us a glimpse into the future. Judging by our first drive, that future looks very bright.
Hydrogen-powered cars mix hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity. The electricity is then fed to a motor, which drives the car. The only by-product is water, making fuel cell cars true zero emissions vehhicles.
There's an on-board battery to help out, and that's charged using energy recovered during braking.
Man on the moon
So why can't we get fuel cell cars in the UK? The simple answer is that hydrogen isn't freely available in a form we can use. Getting hydrogen pumps onto our garage forecourts is a logistical nightmare that's akin to getting another man onto the moon, too – and strangely those two things might coincide.
Just as America might just have someone strolling across the moon's surface in 2019 to celebrate fifty years since the first landing, so Honda hopes there'll be good reason to bring a Civic-sized fuel cell car to the UK.
Hopefully, by then, fuel companies (and others) with a little gentle persuasion from governments, will have an infrastructure in place that will allow us to fill fuel cell cars.
So will it be worth it? The FCX is a remarkable car, not least in its technology, but in proving that Honda can still build exciting, high quality, eco-friendly cars – especially after the disappointment that is the Insight hybrid.
Honda FCX Clarity driven - Car and Car-Buying News - What Car?
