Honda Begins Clarity Production, Unveils First Leases
By John O'Dell June 15, 2008By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
True to its word, Honda Motor Co. began production of its long-awaited FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric sedan this evening (Monday morning in Japan) and said that it would begin putting the strikingly sculpted vehicles into the hands of carefully selected customers early next month.
The first of the cars, which produce electricity from hydrogen gas and oxygen and emit only water vapor from their tailpipes, will go to Hollywood producer ("Little Miss Sunshine") Ron Yerxa, who traveled to Japan to attend the ceremony at Honda's new fuel-cell vehicle assembly facility at its advanced R&D campus in Tochigi, about 100 miles north of Tokyo.
Honda introduced the production model of the garnet-red car at the 2007 Los Angeles International Auto Show in November and said at the time that it would launch a three-year Clarity leasing program this summer.
Yerxa and other lessees – there will be about 200 in Southern California and Japan by the end of 2011 – will pay $600 a month and will be required to provide considerable feed-back to Honda about their experiences with the vehicle.
Closer But No Cigar
"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream," John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said in a statement.
"Our customers and dealers share in our vision for a cleaner and more sustainable transportation future, and share in our challenge to embrace a new generation of automotive technology that we think will carry the auto industry and its customers into the future."
While fuel cell cars represent the auto industry's best effort so far to free the motor vehicle from its dependence on oil and to avoid some of the perceived pitfalls of using rechargeable batteries to store power for electric cars, the technology is not without problems. One significant drawback to fuel-cell vehicles is the enormous cost of high-tech components that aren't yet mass-produced. A bigger stumbling block is that there's no national fueling infrastructure, which limits where the cars can be used.
That's not expected to be a problem for this initial lease program, however – Honda made the limitation clear to potential lessees.
Carmakers that are working on fuel cell development have begun lobbying politicians and fuel and energy industry leaders to begin investing in development of a hydrogen infrastructure, a so-called hydrogen highway that would link major population centers and make cross-country trips possible for fuel-cell electric vehicles.
Positives
The on-board fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen to electricity by passing it through a permeable membrane coated with a platinum catalyst.
Because the vehicles can carry their hydrogen in on-board tanks, just as internal combustion vehicles carry gasoline or diesel fuel in tanks, they can be refueled rapidly when fuel stations are available, eliminating the battery-electric car's present need for lengthy recharging periods.
Fuel cell systems also are lighter than battery-electric systems.
Honda Not Alone
In addition to Honda, General Motors also is testing fuel-cell electric vehicles in real-world situations.
Other major automakers, including Ford, Chrysler, Daimler, Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia, have prototype fuel cell vehicles under study and most – unwilling pin hopes of oil-free transportation to a single new technology – also are continuing to work in battery-electric powertrain development.
Unlike General Motors Corp.'s on-going Project Driveway 30-month fuel cell demonstration program, in which drivers are given use of a fuel-cell electric Equinox crossover SUV for up to three months, Honda customers are leasing the Clarity for a full three years.
First Users
In addition to Yerxa, American Honda Motor Co. has confirmed leases to actress and children's book author Jamie Lee Curtis and her filmmaker husband Christopher Guest; Newport Beach business owner and car enthusiast Jim Salomon; actress Laura Harris ("Women's Murder Club"); and Jon Spallino, who became the world's first retail fuel cell vehicle customer, when he was selected to lease a current generation FCX in 2005.
Yerxa is scheduled to get his car in July, the others will receiver their vehicles as they roll of the production line later this summer.
All lessees are Southern California residents: one requirement for winning a Clarity lease was that the applicants must live or work in or near one of a handful of cities -- Irvine, Torrance, Burbank or Santa Monica -- where they will be close to publicly available hydrogen fueling stations.
Harris, a Los Angeles resident, and Spallino, who lives near Torrance and is chief financial officer of an Irvine engineering firm, joined Santa Monica resident Yerxa in Japan for the announcement.
The car they are getting is futuristic, hand-built four-seater that performs much like a standard 4-cyliner Honda Accord sedan but uses an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine.
74 MPG
Improvements to the fuel cell and the drive system since Edmunds' Inside Line reported in late November on one of the first test-drives ever, have boosted the Clarity's fuel economy by about 8 percent to the equivalent of 74 miles per gallon. (Hydrogen is measured in kilograms and each kilogram – 2.2 pounds – of the pressurized gas holds approximately the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline.)
The FCX Clarity's powertrain delivers 134 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque, with most of the torque available from zero to 20 miles per hour. That low-speed torque is a characteristic of all electric vehicles and delivers to provide a powerful launch.
Honda says the Clarity has a top speed of 100 miles an hour and can hit 60 mph from a standing start in about 9 seconds.
Dealer Network
In addition to announcing the first five lessees today, Honda said that a trio of Southern California dealerships, Power Honda in Costa Mesa, Honda of Santa Monica and Scott Robinson Honda, in Torrance, will comprise the world's first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle leasing and service network.
All three are in close proximity to hydrogen refueling stations.
Establishment of the network underscores the company's commitment to fuel cell technology.
Although there's been no official comment, American Honda insiders say that the company intends to continue leasing the Clarity -- although perhaps a second-generation version -- after this inaugural program has ended.
The company expects there to be a wider network of fueling stations by then, to facilitate a lease program spread over a broader geographic area.
While the initial lessee list leans a bit toward the Hollywood crowd, Honda has said it doesn't intend to limit leasing to high-profile drivers and wants to put most of the cars into the hands of people who face regular daily commuting and child-hauling chores in order to get as much "real-world" feedback as possible.
That's real world experience from people who can afford $600 a month for a car that cannot be driven outside of the Greater Los Angeles area until (unless) someone starts building hydrogen fuel stations.
But hey, it's a start.
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