Honda CEO Ito on Hydrogen, Hybrids and BEVS - Green is the Theme
By John O'Dell October 27, 2009
Honda Motor Co. pulled the plug on Formula 1 racing to divert the money being spent there to green technologies and the company that's been playing second fiddle to Toyota in the green cars sweepstakes says it wants to hybridize larger vehicles again.
Honda's top executive prefers hydrogen fuel cell FCX Clarity but says battery-electric cars will come first.
---------
Toepke tells us that Ito is committed to the further greening of Honda, even to the extent of developing an environmentally friendly sports car that - his words - is truly green, "not like the car Lexus announced" at the show. He was referring to the limited production, V10-powered, $375,000 Lexus LFA supercar, which he apparently doesn't believe is green enough.
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
In other comments, Ito said that he recently drove Honda's FCX Clarity fuel cell-electric sedan (above) on a 316-mile trip in Japan and marveled at its acceleration and smooth power curve. It performs "unlike a gas engine," he said, reiterating his believe that hydrogen fuel-cell electric cars remain the best type of alternative fuel vehicle for the future.
"I once again confirmed that this is the type of car we should be going after," he said of his drive - in which, he said, the Clarity consumed 3.5 kilograms of hydrogen, the equivalent of 3.5 gallons of gasoline or 90 miles per gallon.
"Hydrogen fuel cells will remain our focus," Ito told Toepke, voicing disappointment that the fuel and energy industries haven't moved to establish much of a hydrogen fuel network.
It's primarily the lack of fueling resources, not problems with fuel cell technology, that is holding back cars like the FCX Clarity, he said. "So we have to prepare ourselves [ to fill the void] with battery EVS."
Meantime, he said to Toepke and the other U.S. reporters in the room, "please tell your government to build more hydrogen stations."
Hybrids and EVs
Ito said that he also believes that with gas- and diesel-electric hybrids are likely to remain the "mainstream" alternative vehicle for years to come.
CR-Z hybrid will be first gas-electric car with 6-speed manual transmission as Honda tries to put fun into hybrid driving.
----------
"We need to develop new green technologies," he said, adding that "once we have an abundance of cash" in a recovering economy "we will develop a green sports car, not like the Lexus."
His preference would be a "hydrogen-powered sports car" because the weight of the batteries needed for a grid-rechargeable electric sports car would hinder acceleration, he said (ignoring the Tesla Roadster, which sprints from zero to 60 mph in under 4 seconds).
Honda, which flopped in its first attempt to hybridize on of its larger models - the V6 Accord sedan - intends to bring hybrid drive back into the larger car market, Ito said, without offering any specifics.
Beyond that, he said, Honda worries that U.S. customers are so price-conscious that it will be difficult to push a lot of new green technology into the market all at once. Progress in the cars we can buy is likely occur at a slower pace than in the automakers' labs.
Kelly Toepke, News Editor, Inside Line
and John O'Dell, Senior Editor, Green Car Advisor
LEAVE A COMMENT