Japan, Tokyo
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it has begun production of the new FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, with the first vehicle (U.S. specification) coming off the line. Lease sales are scheduled to begin in July in the U.S. and this fall in Japan. The combined sales plan for Japan and the U.S. calls for a few dozen units within a year and about 200 units within three years. Additionally, the FCX Clarity will be exhibited at the Environmental Showcase in the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit to begin July 7, as one of a group of advanced environmental technologies.
Unique Assembly Line
The FCX Clarity is produced at the Honda Automobile New Model
Center (Takanezawa-machi, Shioya-gun, Tochigi Prefecture). A new
dedicated fuel cell vehicle assembly line was established, which
includes processes unique to a fuel cell vehicle such as the
installation of the fuel cell stack and hydrogen tank. The fuel cell
stack itself is produced at Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. (Haga-machi,
Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture). In manufacturing fuel cells, exclusively
designed automated equipment was introduced to ensure quality of the
highest precision while enabling mass production of cells, with several
hundred cells required for each fuel cell stack. Through these
initiatives, Honda is making steady progress in the area of fuel cell
vehicle production, in addition to fuel cell and fuel cell vehicle
technologies, thereby moving closer to realizing its goal to achieve
more widespread use of fuel cell vehicles.
EPA Certified
Honda
is responsible for the development of the world’s first fuel cell car
(Honda FCX) to be certified for regular commercial use by the U.S. EPA
and California Air Resources Board. The FCX Clarity is powered by the
compact, efficient and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack.
Significant advances over Honda’s previous generation FCX include:
- an advanced new four passenger sedan design
- a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles1
- a 25 percent increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg-H21
(74 mpg GGE <miles per gallon gasoline gallon equivalent energy>) - a 50 percent improvement in fuel stack power output density by volume
- a 40 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter new lithium ion battery pack
First-ever Fuel Cell Vehicle Dealership Network
American
Honda announced that three Southern California dealerships will
comprise the world’s first fuel cell automobile dealership network.
Each are located in close proximity to hydrogen refueling stations.
American Honda will perform all required service and support at its
specialized fuel cell service facility in the greater Los Angeles area.
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