Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Car Leasing Begins In July

Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Car Leasing Begins In July

By John O'Dell May 21, 2008

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

After keeping us guessing for months, Honda Motor Co. said today that it will begin leasing its much-anticipated FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric car in July.

The company also said it will build an deliver about 200 of the futuristic cars during the "first three years" of production – signaling that there will be more to come.

Most of the cars are slated for the U.S., and all of those will be allocated in three regions of Southern California.

American Honda said it has a list of more than 50,000 people who've asked to be considered for the rare leases, and has narrowed that to 500 peple who actually live in the designated regions. That makes the odds of getting one about 1 in 2 –a whole lot better than the lottery.

Slow to Roll

Rollout looks to be rather slow though: The company said it will be leasing "several dozen" of the cars in the U.S. and Japan in each of the three years of the program. That works out to an average of 63 a year, although there's been no indication that leases will be that evenly spaced.

Honda says it will announce the first batch of FCX Clarity leasing customers when Clarity No. 1 rolls off the production line in Japan on June 16. Edmunds.com has asked, and asked, and asked, to be considered a lease candidate (hey, if Honda's looking for real world input from real drivers, what cold be better than a stable of Edmunds drivers using the car daily and telling all with in a long-term blog?)

We'll let you know, in really big headline type, if we get one.

Limited Availability

Leases in the U.S. are being limited to people living in or near three locations in So. Cal. – Irvine, Torrance and Santa Monica – because that's where the region's three public hydrogen stations are situated and because all three are relatively close to American Honda headquarters in Torrance, where the company's fuel cell gurus ply their trade.

Honda initially showed what will be the 2009 FCX Clarity as a concept car at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. That's the same year the present, minivan-based FCX model was introduced for limited  leasing and on-road testing, principally in commercial and  government fleets.

The production version of the Clarity was unveiled six months ago at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.

At the time, Honda executives said that the initial leases would be for three years at a cost of $600 a month, which covers fuel and liability insurance on the very expensive cars.  So far, those terms haven't changed.

Customer Selection

The company said it is narrowing its list of lease prospects in a four-step process is now working to narrow the list through a qualification process involving e-mail surveys -- to determine things like seriousness of intent, driving patterns, ability to actually make the lease payments and access to a garage or other secure storage for the car – and personal interviews.

Based on our limited experience with the FCX Clarity – we've been one of the few who've actually driven the car on pubic streets – we can say that people who do get the leases will be receiving an absolutely cutting-edge Honda vehicle with luxury touches that put it more into the Acura class.

About The Clarity

Driving it is a lot like driving a well-balance V-6 Accord, with the fuel system air compressor's whine replacing engine noise.

Like all fuel cell vehicles being tested today, the FCX clarity is driven by an electric motor that receives its power from juice produced in an on-board fuel cell stack that converts hydrogen gas and oxygen to electricity.

The only tailpipe emission is a steady drip of distilled water (sometimes visible as steam), the byproduct of mixing hydrogen and oxygen.

The power is stored in on on-board battery pack, with regenerative braking helping top up the charge.

Almost 70 MPG

Honda says its new fuel cell design, which increases power density by 48 percent from that in the previous FCX model, provides a 20 percent hike in fuel economy to the Honda-estimated equivalent of 68 miles per gallon (hydrogen is measured in kilograms, with 1 kg. containing approximately the same energy as a gallon of regular gas).

Maximum range on a tank of hydrogen, always critical in an experimental car without much of a fueling infrastructure, is 270 miles, up 30 percent from the '05 model.

The fuel cell system's 288-volt lithium ion battery pack is 40 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter that the previous nickel metal-hydride pack.

The heart of the system is a 100-kilowatt fuel cell stack that's so small it fits in the center tunnel beneath the console separating the front seats.

Here's the Tech Stuff

The stack produces electricity by passing hydrogen and oxygen through a permeable membrane coated with a platinum catalyst, is 65 percent smaller that the stack in the experimental 2005-model FCX minivan.

its hundreds of individual cells are arranged vertically for a long, narrow shape that made it possible to package the system in a sedan.  Previous fuel cell stacks were made of cells piled one atop the other in a horizontal pile that created a very wide but relatively lat package that fit best in larger vehicles such as minvans.

Honda says the new, vertical arrangement also promotes more efficient cooling, electricity "generation" and cold weather operation,

A unique feature of the system is its "auto stop" function: to improve fuel efficiency, the flow of hydrogen to the fuel-cell stack is shut down when the car is idling. It's the fuel-cell vehicle version of the internal combustion engine shut-down feature of an idling gas-electric hybrid.

When it is making electricity, power from the FCX Clarity's fuel cell flows to the lithium-ion battery pack and, when the battery is not needed for extra boost, directly to the electric motor-cum-gearbox mounted transversely under the hood.

The motor delivers 134 horsepower and 189 pound-feet (256 Newton meters) of torque. The peak level is delivered in the zero-to 20-mph range. It's enough to give the Clarity a top speed of 100 miles per hour with off-the-line acceleration that pushes you firmly back into the seat.

The motor-gearbox has been downsized considerably from the unit used in the '05 FCX. It is almost a foot narrower and 9.5 inches shorter than the '05 version, which allowed designers to style the car with its very short and steeply sloped nose.

The entire power plant is 397 pounds lighter and 45 percent smaller than the system in the previous-generation FCX.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.