Honda may have found the answer to $4 plus gas.It has started production of the FCX Clarity fuel cell car that goes on lease in California this year. It is the first regular production fuel cell car aimed at individuals. The others have been aimed at fleet operators. The response has been overwhelming. People have been literally falling over themselves to get a chance to drive the sleek four door car, and Honda has drawn a lottery to decide who will be among the around 100 lucky ones who get to drive it.Mind you, this is when leasers will have to pay $600 a month as lease charges plus extra for fuel. The $600 a month however includes both collision insurance and maintenance.Even then it is a bargain as each car is estimated to cost more than $300,000 to build.A gallon of hydrogen fuel costs about the same as as a gallon of gasoline, but you get two to three times the mileage with hydrogen. Although GM has about a six month start with its Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle, Honda has come up with a much more attractive car.
The car's V-flow fuel cell has been developed in-house by Honda. It uses hydrogen to generate electricity, which powers the 134hp electric motor. The car is a front wheel drive, and travels 270 miles on a full tank of hydrogen. It has a top speed of 100mph, and goes from 0-60mph in 10 seconds. Honda intends to develop up to 300 FCX Clarity models over the next three years.
But presently there is a big negative to using hydrogen as a fuel. Making hydrogen takes more energy than hydrogen produces. It is proposed to produce hydrogen from natural gas and the world's reserves of natural gas are limited. Till such time that hydrogen can be produced from sea water, the days of really cheap fuel are still far away.