Honda makes first hydrogen cars

Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle.

• The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on hydrogen and electricity, emitting only water vapour.
• Honda claims the vehicle offers three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, gasoline-powered car.
• Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars, which are initially only available to lease, over the next three years.
• One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.
• The first five customers are all based in southern California because of the proximity of hydrogen fuelling stations, Honda said.
• US actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the first to take delivery of the vehicle, the firm added.
• ‘Monumental step’
• The car will initially be available for lease in California starting in July, and then in Japan later this year.
• “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,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.
• Honda says it expects to lease a few dozen units in the US and Japan in 2008, and about 200 units within three years.
• It said the cost of the car, on a three-year lease, would be $600 (£300) a month.
• Booming demand
• Meanwhile, rival Toyota said it was struggling to keep up with booming demand for hybrid vehicles because it is unable to make enough batteries.
• Hybrid vehicles, such as Toyota’s top-selling Prius, switch between a petrol engine and electric motor.
• Toyota Motor Corp’s executive vice president, Takeshi Uchiyamada told the Associated Press that new battery production lines can’t be added until next year.
• “Hybrids are selling so well we are doing all we can to increase production,” he said. “We need new lines.”