Honda Cars : The Honda FCX Clarity, the world’s first commercially available, zero-emission hydrogen car; | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Here's a good read on the Honda FCX Clarity....

Honda’s new gas guzzler

Nowadays, emission-free motoring is the ultimate Hollywood accessory.

Even hybrids, like the Toyota Prius, don’t really cut it anymore. Which probably helps to explain why Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man who was once famed for his love of environmentally-unfriendly Hummers, happily champions the green cause. Indeed, the politician is now the power behind California’s so-called Hydrogen Highway, the busy thoroughfare that runs between San Francisco and San Diego.

You’ll find the epicentre of LA’s piece of that road just off the 405 freeway, one of the world’s most polluted motorways, where a Shell petrol station equipped with a hydrogen pump is the main refuelling hub for the rare Honda FCX Clarity.

The Honda FCX Clarity, the world’s first commercially available, zero-emission hydrogen car, is currently only available to lease in Japan and California, primarily because they’re the only places where hydrogen is relatively available. The cost for a three-year lease in either market is approximately $600 (Dh2,200) per month, which includes maintenance.

Before I am let loose behind the wheel of the vehicle Honda describes as the “sedan of the future”, I’m shown how to fill up the Clarity, which proves fast and simple. In fact, in less than five minutes, I have enough energy onboard for more than 320km of roaming. It cost almost $30 to fill the tank – about the same price as it would to fill the tank of a similar-sized car with petrol.

This Honda is an amazing piece of wizardry. It’s powered by a compact and efficient electric motor, which is fed by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen from the tank and oxygen from the air into electricity. The only byproduct of this process is water vapour, which comes out of the exhaust pipe. The hydrogen is compressed to 5,000psi and stored in a tank under the boot.

The FCX’s Vertical Flow fuel cell stack has been designed to be compact, leaving more space for occupants. The car is also designed to recover energy that would otherwise be lost while braking or decelerating, which is stored as electricity in a lithium-ion battery pack found under the rear seat, allowing for more interior and boot space.

The Clarity’s range is fine, too, if you know you are going to be close to another filling station.

Currently, one of the biggest hurdles in selling hydrogen-powered vehicles is the lack of infrastructure to make owning one as convenient as owning a petrol-powered car. As yet, hydrogen does not give you the complete freedom of the open road.

So with all that in mind, I map out our road test route. Carefully.

We will head up near Burbank, then across the Santa Monica Mountains to Malibu, down the Pacific Coast Highway and through Venice. The return leg will be up the infamous 405 to Los Angeles International Airport, where the first hydrogen station opened, for a substantial but sustainable meal at the city’s hippest eco eatery.

Any fool could drive the Clarity – just flick the switch into Drive with the steering column-mounted lever and the car moves off, albeit with little of the grunt you’d expect from a big petrol engine.

It gets to 100kph in about 10 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 160kph. The ride quality, though, is as good as a Rolls-Royce.

For a car for the future, the Clarity is remarkably contemporary to drive. For some reason I’d expected an experience nothing like the norm but, despite the cutting-edge power source, the delivery of power is familiar.

It may be a bit breathless compared with the sprightly characteristics of most Hondas, and unnaturally quiet (something we will all have to get used to with one form of alternative power or other) but Honda has retained its company DNA for ride and handling.

Sadly though, the interior is dull. I’d have liked to feel as if I was in something more space shuttle than old people’s home.

But the Star Trek element is at least evident in a series of gauges and indicators that pulsate in vibrant electro blue rather like a 1990s Japanese boom box. One of the key indicators shows hydrogen reserves. I thought it would be like watching sand slide through an egg timer, seeing the sole power source for the car evaporate with every twitch of the accelerator. But no, it dropped gently – until I got on the motorway. Then it started plummeting.

There’s nothing like not knowing where your next filling station is coming from to focus the mind. It’s great having a hydrogen car but greater still when there’s enough places to refuel.

Heading out into traffic, I felt like a star. Kids, truckers and even muscle car drivers flagged me down and gave me the thumbs-up. The Clarity doesn’t look all that different from a normal car, but apparently people still notice it.

Sun kissed and sand fringed, Santa Monica and Venice Beach are in fact LA’s green belt. Here, sustainability sells.

Surfboard and skateboard makers Arbor use bamboo not only for their wave and street riders but also for clothing. It’s no gimmick. Surfers might want the cleanest of water, but would never relinquish speed across the surf or pavements for sustainability.

Serving in Venice today is the Green Truck to Go, a mobile kitchen powered by biofuel and solar-power, that dishes up meals of local produce from the side of the road. I grab a fantastic tortilla wrap to keep myself fuelled.

“LA is really a green place at heart. Only because we need our cars so much is that compromised,” says Green Truck founder Mitchell Collier, whose regular customers include the film director Ridley Scott and the celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. “It is becoming normal now in LA to choose the green option, given one.”

Our last stop is for a bite at Akasha, LA’s top organic restaurant. Pierce Brosnan and Robert Redford swing by. Miley Cyrus, who was filming in studios at Culver City, also makes an appearance.

“I’d like to say we are doing something new,” says Akasha Richmond. “But go back to Hollywood in the 1930s and health food and green living were all the rage then. The Germans brought their organic living with them to LA and Hollywood lapped it up.

“The difference now is that so much of that has been diluted that the green movement has a greater fight to get its head above water. But the immediate influence of stars and their eco beliefs has been tremendous.”

It’s obvious that Californians are serious about going green, which makes it obvious why Honda chose the Golden State as its Clarity test bed. With the success of the hydrogen car here, one can only wonder how soon the Clarity will be seen in driveways in the rest of the US states – and beyond.

Source;
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100102/MOTORING/701019950/1247/life

Honda Cars : Schwarzenegger gives shout out to Honda, just like Obama's nod to Ford | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

I never thought I'd see the day that Arnold drove a Honda.... Strange times indeed!
On opposite coasts, two of the nation's best known political figures have been lauding their cars.
First, President Obama told Ford CEO Alan Mulally and a large gathering in the White House last week how much he misses the Ford he left behind in Chicago. It's still waiting for him, he said. “By the way, I just want to mention, I think I still have my Ford parked in Chicago. It’s a Ford hybrid. It runs great. You guys should take a look,” he was quoted by TheNew York Times as having said. Mulally "broke into a wide grin and pumped his fist enthusiastically."

Then yesterday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who happened to have been in the Rose Garden that day, gave his own shout out to Honda at an event in Los Angeles to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles. He praised a Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell car that has been given to his family to try out."I just got the Clarity," he said. "We're all fighting over who is driving it." He said his daughter seemed most enthusastic about it.

A Honda spokesman, Kurt Antonius, said the car was loaned to the governor for a few days, but had since been returned.

That's Schwarzenegger in the photo at top at the event in front of the Clarity. The woman to his left is Clarity driver Q’orianka Kilcher, who starred as Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World. She has become an advocate for fuel-cell cars.

Honda's CEO wasn't around for Schwarzenegger's nod, but it was pretty clear he would have pumped his fist as well.

Here's another well known celebrity that drives a Honda FCX Clarity.
Back in the day....

Source;
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/openroad/post/2009/05/67349725/1

Honda Cars : Fuel cells finally staged to power the future, thanks to Honda's FCXClarity. | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

The fuel cell has long been viewed as pie-in-the-sky engineering - something to dream about, but having little chance of ever changing the world's dependence on fossil-based fuels. In the past couple of years, however, things have started to change. Big time.

In the past, most fuel cells had a life cycle of around 1,500 hours (or approximately three years of normal use) before there is a noticeable decrease (15 per cent) in performance. The latest fuel cells address this shortcoming while accomplishing so much more.

For example, Kia's Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) program took a big step forward with the debut of the Borrego FCEV at last year's Los Angeles Auto Show. When compared to the 108 horsepower, fuel cell-powered Sportage I drove in 2007, the Borrego boasts a 44 per cent boost in power. The fuel cell and its 450-volt supercapacitor storage system is capable of putting 154 horsepower to the pavement while delivering a best-in-class system efficiency of 62 per cent. The upshot is a top speed of 160 km/h, a zero- to 100- km/h time of 12.8 seconds and a driving range of 680 kilometres from its 202-litre hydrogen tank.

As in life, it is usually the smallest of things that make the biggest difference - and it's usually a eureka moment that leads to the breakthrough. This is particularly true of the Honda FCX Clarity. In the FCX's case, the eureka moment came when Yozo Kami, executive chief engineer of the FCX, literally turned the fuel cell stack on its head.

In 1999, Honda's fuel cell was large (it needed 4.7 cubic feet to house it), weighed 202 kilograms and had an output of just 60 kilowatts. While the output had risen to 86 kW and the weight had dropped to 96 kg by 2003, size still represented a significant challenge - enough that it necessitated the use of a SUV-like vehicle to accommodate it. The FCX's V Flow (for vertical flow) fuel cell, introduced in 2007, is housed in a box about the size of a standard aircraft roll-on suitcase (1.9 cu. ft.), weighs just 67 kg and produces 100 kW of real-world power - a massive 50 per cent increase in the power-to-volume ratio.

The V Flow's other breakthrough seems so simple in hindsight. Conventional fuel cell stacks lie horizontally in the vehicle, which consumes valuable space. The V Flow stack stands vertically between the FCX's front seats. Reorienting the stack not only reduced its space requirement, it eliminated a major drawback: When the fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen (to produce electricity), it also produces water that needs to be drained. During the winter months, any water left within the fuel cell at shut down freezes which renders the fuel cell useless. The V Flow uses gravity to rid the cell of the water. This twist also allows the fuel cell to be started at -30 C, meaning it's capable of working just about anywhere in the world, including northern Canada.

To take the original FXC from concept to reality, Kami also needed a smaller electric drive motor and smaller battery pack. No problem. The FCX Clarity's coaxial electric motor is 162 millimetres narrower than its predecessor and by adopting a new 288-volt lithium-ion battery pack, the mass and space requirements dropped by 40 and 43 per cent, respectively. The latter means the battery is now small enough to fit under the rear seat. All of this work delivered a fuel cell powertrain that's a whopping 180 kg lighter and 40 per cent smaller than Honda's previous unit.

The electric motor delivers 134 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque anywhere from one to 3,056 rpm. The result is a ton of low-end grunt (enough to set off the traction control system if one nails the accelerator) and a sustained pull through the mid-range. It also delivers a top speed of 160 km/ hour and a real-world driving range of 440 km, both of which are a match for a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle.

After driving the FCX Clarity it became only too obvious to me that the fuel cell has finally come of age. The proof came in April at New York Auto Show. The FCX Clarity was named the 2009 World Green Car - it beat 22 contenders from 25 countries to take the prestigious crown.

Celebrities are also buying into the whole zero-emission thing. On Aug. 5, 2008, Jamie Lee Curtis became the second person to take delivery of an FCX Clarity. Curtis is one of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan, the vast majority of vehicles being based in Southern California where there is some semblance of a refuelling infrastructure.
The globalization of the fuel cell system and hydrogen's potential to become the next fuel source is growing as more people start to recognize the need to develop realistic zero-emission vehicles. Europe and Japan will likely be the first to embrace fuel cells. In North America, it is going to take some serious political will to begin the shift away from today's gas-guzzling frenzy and towards tomorrow's hydrogen-driven world.

automotive@sympatico.ca

Source;
http://www.canada.com/Fuel+cells+finally+staged+power+future+thanks+Honda+FCXClarity/1590751/story.html

Honda Cars : Honda Clarity Burns Hydrogen, Emits Only Water: Jason H. Harper | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Here's a good article from Bloomberg.com with some information on the Honda FCX Clartiy....
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- It’s not every day that you get to kick the wheels on the car of tomorrow. After all, the question of what will power future automobiles is a guessing game, with candidates ranging from electricity and compressed natural gas to hydrogen fuel cells.

Honda made an expensive bet in that guessing game by designing the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity. It’s costly (perhaps $500,000 each to produce), yet the sedan emits only water.

Both Honda and Chevy are testing fuel-cell vehicles by making them available for lease by select customers. Hydrogen’s big upside is its cleanliness and ability to be produced from many sources, even water and human waste.

Fuel-cell stacks are akin to mini power stations in which the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen is converted into electricity, which then powers an electric motor. Since hydrogen is a gas, it’s stored under pressure in reinforced tanks.

There are big hurdles to clear because the technology is expensive and an entire hydrogen refueling infrastructure will need to be created. (Honda’s previous FCX, first delivered in 2002, cost about $1 million each to produce. Executives are coy but say the Clarity costs about half that.)

I pick up the Clarity in Manhattan with the intent of driving it dry, as I’m curious about the refueling process itself. Is it complicated?

I turn the key, push the start button and the center gauges soon turn blue, indicating it’s ready to drive. Like a hybrid or electric car, there’s no start-up noise.

I motor into traffic, trying not to ignore the fact that while the Clarity is as exotic and expensive as an Italian supercar, nobody else -- including errant yellow taxis -- knows this. Best to avoid fender benders.

Refueling Station

I’m on my way to Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles away. There I will find Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and its hydrogen refilling station. The Clarity has a range of 190 miles of highway driving, 280 of combined city/freeway. (Like hybrids, fuel-cell vehicles get better mileage in town, at slow speeds with less wind resistance.) A full tank is just enough for one back-and-forth trip.

In the Clarity’s case, hydrogen is delivered as pressurized gas, and one kilogram is roughly equivalent to one gallon of gas. Over 200 miles in the day, I average 55 miles per “gallon.” Yet the tank only holds about four kilograms of hydrogen, and if you run out, a flatbed truck is in your immediate future.

Only in California

The Clarity has its own production line, which over the next three years will put out some 200 cars. Only Southern California customers are currently getting them since the state has the most hydrogen stations. Customers are pre-vetted, and leases cost $600 a month for three years, including maintenance and insurance. (So far, only a few have been delivered.) Honda is obviously not making money on the project, but it does suggest a certain seriousness.

New York won’t see the Clarity soon. General Motors Corp., though, is offering its fuel-cell Chevy Equinox SUV at no cost to some 100 drivers in New York, Southern California and Washington, D.C. New York drivers can use a Shell station in White Plains.

The Clarity was expressly designed as a fuel-cell vehicle, and the result is an elegant and handsome four-door sedan. With no big engine in the front, the hood and overhang are quite short and offset by a raked windshield. The Clarity is basically one long swoop, with a high back trunk to minimize air drag. Futuristic, though not aggressively so.

Easy Handling

I’m surprised to find that it drives just about like any other Honda. It’s easy to negotiate in traffic, handles nicely and doesn’t feel especially sluggish. Nor did I have any problem keeping up with fast traffic on the highway.

It looks like a real car, too. The test version has a metallic burgundy paint job, attractive wheel rims and an interior that would make an Acura proud, with GPS navigation, cooled and heated seats and tons of room.

Electronic gauges monitor gas mileage, hydrogen levels and range, and how much power is recaptured while braking (a technology shared with hybrids). A small circle at the center expands and contracts depending on how much power is being used -- an intuitive way of gauging how efficiently you’re driving.

My range is dwindling as I near Allentown, and I’m glad to find Air Products, which has some 85 hydrogen stations in 15 countries. They’re expecting me, and representatives explain the simple refueling process.

I insert a narrow hose onto a nozzle inside the car’s gas latch and then turn a locking lever. It’s a “closed system,” so the hydrogen neither leaks nor releases fumes. The pump performs a check of the pressure inside the car’s hydrogen chamber, then begins fueling.

Minutes later, I’m back on the road to New York.

No doubt hydrogen technology has a long way to go to become practical, yet if the Clarity is any indication, the actual process of driving and refueling could be a painless one.

The Honda FCX Clarity at a Glance

Engine: Fuel-cell stack and electric drive motor, with 134 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque.

Transmission: One-speed direct drive.

Speed: 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 10 seconds.

Gas mileage per kilogram: 77 city; 67 highway.

Best features: Emits only water but drives like a gas-fueled car.

Worst feature: The fear of running out of hydrogen and being stranded.

Target buyer: The true environmental front runner (who also lives in Southern California).

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=atizckxemqGw&refer=home#