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With all the talk about alternative powertrains and who has the most hybrids, one statistic stands out: It's been more than five years since the second-generation Toyota Prius hit showrooms, marking the most recent new vehicle to have been designed only as a hybrid. And, as hybridcars.com reports, that's a huge challenge for Honda as it prepares to introduce its new Honda hybrid Prius-fighter. Not only does the new car need impeccable aerodynamics and the ability to seat five, but it also needs to be easily distinguished as a hybrid, yet instantly identifiable as a Honda and not a Prius. More »
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Pardon me for being baffled, but something about this latest Honda FCX Clarity ad has me a little puzzled. Rubik's Cubes, geometric puzzles, traditional puzzles, Rube Goldberg machines and a hydrogen-powered Honda? I'll spoil the ending for you: I guess it's all about "solving problems," but until I can stick a garden hose into my car and drive across the state of Texas, Honda isn't solving any problem but confusing the hell out of me with artsy commercials. [YouTube] More »
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OK, actually we talked about the new Honda FCX Clarity. I called Farago because I had absolutely swallowed the Clarity Kool Aid. [Like we didn't already know that. — Ed.] The weekend after driving the Clarity I wound up at a bunch of pre-Turkey Day parties. Old friends kept asking me what I'd been up to and telling me they got engaged, while like a recent UFO abductee I could only repeat, "I've driven... THE FUTURE!!" I needed a straighting. I knew my only hope would be to speak with the world's most hard-edged curmudgeon, the doubting Thomas who doubts Thomas, both the Devil's advocate and interior decorator, my mentor, Robert Farago. The result? "Needs a thermal butt sensor." Have a listen. More »
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The most remarkable thing about driving Honda's FCX Clarity prototype isn't how it emits nothing but water, its torquey, 13,500 rpm electric motor, the hydrogen equivalent of 68 miles per gallon or the perverse pleasure that goes with driving a multimillion-dollar automobile. It's the air-conditioned seats. Notice I said driving, because other than the whirring buzz of the motor, the Clarity goes, brakes and turns just like any other car. I had to keep reminding myself I was indeed behind the wheel of a hydrogen fuel-cell powered feat of engineering. Frankly, the Clarity feels like a slightly larger Accord. Again, Honda's latest FCX uses no gasoline whatsoever and behaves just like — no, make that exactly like — a regular car. And those AC seats? They have built-in fans to blow thermoelectrically cooled air, so no ozone-killing chlorofluorocarbons are needed to chill your fat butt. Pretty neat.

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You're looking at Honda's new hydrogen fuel cell powered FCX Clarity parked in front of the Malibu Presbyterian Church that was destroyed in the recent fires. As the Clarity emits water and achieves the gasoline consumption equivalent of 68 mpg, we thought it only fitting to shoot it parked in front of one of Global Warming's victims. The Clarity, of course, is supposed to help with all that — although we're still not real clear on the clarity of the environmental benefits of hydrogen created using currently readily available sources. But Honda claims they're working on that — and hey, it'll reduce your home's overall power bills. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Honda tossed us the keys to their multi-million dollar pre-production baby (LA Times Pulitzer Prize-winning auto critic Dan Neil claims it's worth "like $10,000,000 or more") and let us cruise from Santa Monica through the toasted canyons of Malibu. Full review coming this Monday. More »
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[Update: Full first drive road test here] Honda's hydrogen powered family sedan has a new name — Clarity. Following a decades old corporate mandate, "Blue Skies For Our Children," the mid-size Clarity will (supposedly) return an EPA-certified 68 MPG. The Clarity also will pass federal safety standards, start in minus 22 degree weather and survive trips out to Las Vegas (high heat). Refueling is still a pain as you either need a getting-smaller-but-still-bulky natural gas fired home unit, or live near Santa Monica, Torrance or Irvine. For now. However, the per-tank range is 270 miles. Coming to a Honda dealer near you this summer (2008), Honda will happy to lease you a Clarity for $600 a month. Make the jump to read Honda's press release. More »
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Honda informs us the company will maintain a clear focus on innovation, environmental responsibility, safety, and building machines that are fun to drive. Along with the hydrogen fuel cell FCX, the company plans to push ahead with an i-dtec turbodiesel. The engine requires no urea system to meet emissions standards thanks to superior catalytic converter design. A European version of Accord in will pack the new diesel in 2008, with Japan and the US models being considered for the near future. Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui then introduced the Accord Tourer Concept, told us the sedan version is coming to Geneva in 2008, and to have a good time at the show. Asimo was taking a break. More »
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We told you about Honda's impending FCX Concept by at the Los Angeles Auto Show and how they wanted to start selling it here by 2008. Well guess what? They weren't fooling. The new and improved Hindenburg hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be hitting both our shores and Japan in 2008. Where do you get the hydrogen? That's the beauty part – anywhere. Ben Knight, Honda's vice president of research in the Americas says that hydrogen can, "be derived from a broad range of sources, including methane or natural gas, bio-mass and renewable sources like solar or wind." They're also toying with a home hydrogen energy generation station that runs off natural gas. Just plumb it into the same line as the Bar-B-Q. Which would be pretty cool. But forget the fact that the new CXF "Concept" has a 270-mile range and can hit 100 mph, the real story is what Steve Ellis, Honda's manager of fuel cell vehicle marketing said; More »
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Honda may in fact be just as highly precise as the boys from Stuttgart, but they don't brag about it. Instead, they flaunt their massive levels of high-efficiency. So highly efficient in fact, that North American Senior Veep John Mendel mentioned it four times. Which isn't very efficient. Luckily for the "energy diversity" crowd out there, the FCX Concept is. Featuring a fuel cell stack that is 20% smaller, 30% lighter yet 14kW more Bruce than the current Honda hydrogen stack. And no, we have no clue what a kW is either. Though total output is rated at 127hp. Most coolest is that the FCX has an auxiliary "high-efficiency" lithium ion battery, which when combined with the smaller, buffer stack equals maximum hydrogen hoonage potential. More »
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Just months after Honda announced it's putting a fuel-cell sedan into limited production by decade's end, the company will show off the next-generation of the system at this year's Los Angeles auto show, according to Edmunds Inside Line. The updated fuelie rig won't be getting a new concept car to wrap it in — it'll be installed in the same FCX sedan Honda showed off at the Tokyo show last fall. Still, it will likely be closer to the hydrogen system powering the production FCX, which will be available via short-term lease to fleet users. No word yet on which celebs will arrive at the 2010 Oscars in one. More »
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Four months ago, Honda debuted its next-generation FCX vehicle, looking for all the world like a combination of the new Civic and Chrysler's recently-snuffed LH cars. Yesterday, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui announced that the car will be available for sale in the next three to four years, with limited driving opportunities available to members of our particular estate (although we live in a van down by the river, not in the mansion on the hill) as early as the third quarter of this year. More »
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Honda has announced the Home Energy Station III, the latest sequel in Honda's blockbuster Home Energy Station series. Starring Leslie Nielsen and the ghost of George Peppard, as well as Sally Field and Brooke Burke in supporting roles and cameos from such luminaries as Alex Trebek and Larry the Cable Guy, the Home Energy Station III promises to be the biggest yet. Spun off from the direct-to-DVD Phill, Home Energy Station III features an invention that converts natural gas to hydrogen and can be used to power a home in an emergency. It's currently playing at Honda USA headquarters in Torrance, California, in a double feature with the Honda FCX. More »
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Traveling California's "Hydrogen Highway" just got easier for Honda FCX drivers (ok driver). Honda's experimental hydrogen fuel cell—powered car, the FCX, will be fitted with a navigation system that can pinpoint the nearest hydrogen fueling stations, such that there are. A variant of the nav option already offered in gas-fired Hondas and Acuras, the voice-activated system currently has 26 H2 stations in its database, though only nine of them lie outside the state of California. More »
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