Honda made good on its Tokyo Show promise today when it unveiled the fairly stunning FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The FCX Clarity’s powertrain consists of Honda’s V Flow stack, a compact lithium ion battery pack, a single hydrogen storage tank, and an AC synchronous electric motor driving the front wheels. Hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen combine in the fuel cell stack, where chemical energy from the reaction is converted into electric power (with water the only by-product). The energy is stored in the batteries and fed to the car’s electric motor, with extra juice produced through regenerative braking and deceleration further supplementing the fuel cell stack when the need arises. Range on a full tank is expected to be about 270 miles, and efficiency, says Honda, will be equivalent to 68 mpg.
American Honda plans to lease the FCX Clarity to a lucky few retail consumers in Southern California starting next summer. The cost of a three-year lease, which is to include maintenance and collision insurance, is a piddling $600 a month. All in all, the Clarity is a far cry from the breadbox-shaped original FCX. Beyond its obvious purported earth-saving virtues, it’s spacious, luxurious, and, if we may, even a little sexy. Now, if Honda can solve the problem if establishing a hydrogen refueling infrastructure, we may have a winner.
More photos after the break, courtesy of Honda.
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