Slated to begin retail leasing to customers in select California markets before the end of 2016, the Clarity Fuel Cell is expected to be priced around $60,000 with a targeted monthly lease under $500.
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The model was first shown to the worldwide audience during the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and is a successor to the first Honda fuel cell vehicle – the FCX Clarity.
It’s official: Hydrogen-powered cars are officially here.
Toyota Motor Corp began offering hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in October in California.
Californians who’ve passed Honda’s screening process-an application, some phone calls, but not, we’re told, an interview or a home visit-can order one in Los Angeles and Orange counties, plus the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. While these vehicles definitely have their shortcomings (lack of fueling stations, on-car hydrogen containment issues, and non-standardized pricing of hydrogen), they do offer a little comfort in making the gas-to-EV transition.
Today, the 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell will start at “around $60,000” when it launches in California later this year, a United Kingdom plant prepares to build larger battery packs for the next-generation Nissan Leaf, and Volkswagen names a new electric-car boss. It uses a hydrogen-powered engine with advanced powertrain, that converts compressed hydrogen from tanks into electricity, with emission only being water. Hyundai also has a Tucson Fuel Cell available for $499 a month, though availability of this model is limited.
Other alternative-fuel Honda models are coming. Last spring, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered tramcar. “Honda’s taken at least a second off the 0 – 60mph time”, says MotorTrend’s Scott Evans.
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Fuel cell technology is not just for automotive vehicles, however, as there are ambitious projects underway to integrate the technology into mass public transportation routes.
