<![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I wonder how many hydrogen filling stations could have been built across the country with the $1 trillion Bush spent on Iraq? What would our relationship with the Middle East look like then? (not to mention rest of world) How much would oil cost, and where would our economy be right now?

bb4buzz

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I live in the service region of that car, so I'm very tempted to sign up, if only for the ability to say I owned the Chrysler Turbine of our time. But given the fire-snorting rocket ships that take up space in my garage, I don't know if they'd believe my green intentions.

seanaron

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> It's a very sharp looking car. The only problem we have now is where to get hydrogen to fill it. It's a shame the government doesn't take the lead by say, the Post Office going to hydrogen vehicles for their fleet, and offering refill services to the public at post offices. Then we'd have filling stations literally everywhere (well at the large post offices with the room for tanks).

Hello_Newman

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> wow, this is all new to me, am nigerian and buying fuel for our cars is still a whole lot difficult even tho we are an oil producing country..... am a writer and am doing a research on these, thanx you've been a lot of help, simplifying the technology used for someone like me to understand. we love cars in Nigeria and i think we already have this car here, my question is how is it managed? does it sort of convert fuel to hydrogen? cos i dont see any hydrogen filling station here yet! but its a great development, Go Honda!!!!!

busola

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> If we're just looking at getting around the $100 per barrel of oil and are not looking at the environmental impact, then the US Navy has all of these solutions beat with it's nuclear powered vessels. I would buy the first commercially available nuclear powered car.

jolietjake

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> It is great to see such as positive and balanced response from your experience with the FCX Clarity. The announcement that Honda will begin leasing the FCX Clarity marks a positive step in moving us towards a hydrogen economy, and further shows that hydrogen is not just something of the future, it is an application of today.

In addition to the FCX Clarity, Honda is developing a Home Energy Station to further facilitate the adoption of fuel cell applications and present a solution toward developing a hydrogen infrastructure. The Home Energy Station can also provide heat and electricity to a home, reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent and energy saving costs by an estimated 50 percent.

And, Honda is by no means alone in making advances. Recently, there have been several announcements demonstrating that the industry is steadily making progress. Bruce Logan, at Penn State University, discovered that the use of common bacteria in an electrolysis process can potentially produce hydrogen that produces 288 percent more energy. In addition, Bellave S. Shivaram and Adam B. Phillips, at the University of Virginia, announced the discovery of new materials that allow for more efficient storage by doubling the capacity from materials that are currently in use.

Collectively, the automotive industry is developing solutions to resolve our energy needs and reduce carbon emissions to improve our environmental outlook. To give just two examples, General Motors and BMW have made progress in developing hydrogen vehicles and each of their models is currently ready for public testing.

We encourage everyone to learn more about the various applications for how fuel cell technology can be applied. For more information about other hydrogen applications, hydrogen production methods, and other organizations that are working together to develop a hydrogen economy, please visit the National Hydrogen Association website at [www.hydrogenassociation.org.]

h2rex

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Now this is a write up! I almost forgot about all the Fords and SUVs you've tested so far. You need to stick with the 10mil dollar car theme. It's a great looking car too.

TheAstronot

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I particularly liked the "max damage front end". In the future, cool-looking aero cars will whoosh past obstacles and make insurance obsolete. Seriously, this vehicle appears to be an engineering marvel, along with the other H cars on the road. I hope their cost can be reduced to the point where the masses can afford them, like Henry's T.

Considering the collateral damage that battery production does to the environment, we should perhaps not be so smug about hybrids. They unfortunately are a prominent symbol of our outsourcing of pollution and jobs to the rest of the world.

westfieldind

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Awesome stuff.

Although i think full electric is going to ultimately be the better solution. It seems simpler and thus, when technology starts picking up the slack, better.

Shapeshifter

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @Spence: Growing corn for fuel raises beer prices.

Jonny Lieberman

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> BTW, there is a plant producing bio-diesel from corn and sugar in my small Louisiana town. I need to pick up a TDI and fill it up at the factory. That would eliminate the transportation footprint. The next step will be growing it myself!

Spence

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Corn. Sweet, sweet corn. 100% bio-diesel, B-100, sweet golden nectar of the American farm. And some soy probably. Which was harvested in a dino-powered combine no doubt, but we do what we can.

Spence

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @Spence: And where do you think the diesel comes from?

Jonny Lieberman

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Hear hear. Huzzahs all around to the Nipponese.
As a complete aside, I'm in L.A. this week, and I rented a 100% bio-diesel Jetta TDI Hybrid. It's full of low-end torque, moves fast on the freeway, climbs hills like nobody's business, is an absolute blast to drive, and gives no money to despotic oil shieks or corrupt Texas Republicans. It's tits.

Spence

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @akirachan: I personally believe electric vehicles would be the key to the answer.

I don't know if you mean that fuel-cell cars aren't electric (and thus not part of the answer) but if that is your impression than you are misinformed. FCVs are electric cars, they just store the energy as hydrogen instead of in a battery.

Remember people, this thing doesn't burn hydrogen in the engine, it converts it to electricity just like the fuel cells on the space shuttle (the water is used to help astronauts bathe). I don't know how this stores its hydrogen, but most FCVs are using hydrides (materials that absorb hydrogen) to store it instead of having it as a pressurized gas.

jasonda

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> This is pretty cool, although the looks are still odd to me.

Everything I've read about Hydrogen is the amount of energy to prep it. If it could be done with wind/solar/hyrdroelectric, etc, than this would be a real possibity. I still don't understand why we aren't building more dams for power.

I'm curious what exactly Honda is losing on each of these, as $600 a month can't touch the actual cost, unless depreciation is assumed around, say, 5%.

rlj676-new job, same problems

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Sweet ride. Cant wait for a future where cars like this will be the norm.

superbmtsub

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @A strolling player: No shit? Apparently, the last numbers I saw were outdated.

Thanks for finding newer information!

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @Paul Y: I was somewhat surprised to find that the Camry since 2005 has had a 0.28 Cd, the Infiniti G35 an 0.27.

The Prius has a Cd of 0.26, generally regarded as one of the slipperiest cars on today's market. Believe it or not, though, last generation's Lexus LS430 has the same drag coefficient, as does the newest Mercedes S-class.

Incidentally, the Cd for the Intrepid/Concorde is listed as 0.298. These numbers vary with options and packages (the "Aero package" brings the G35 to 0.26; air suspension brings the LS430 to 0.25, etc.), naturally.

A strolling player, now with 100% more Studebaker!

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> With the market driving $100 barrel of oil, these yingyang oil companies that tout "alernative fuels research" better be taking this "Unexpected earnings" and start placing e85, Biodiesel and Hydrogen fillups at every single podunk filling station accross the country.

Though, I doubt that.

-chet

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I'm interested in the filling process for this thing? Is it complex? Is it consistent across fill stations, i.e. is the at-home fill station set up the same way that the commercial ones are? My feeling is that consumer acceptance is going to be more tied to how familiar the daily use of the thing is than how "green" or futuristic it is.

Jeb_Hoge

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Prius:hybrids as Clarity:hydrogen.

Like others have said, I'm having a hard time understanding why Cars 2.0 should shift to hydrogen instead of plugin hybrids moving towards full EVs.

For reasons also @ outlined by rgseidl:, I can see why some are interested.

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @no_slushbox: They will use death ray disintegrater guns, of course.

This is an amazing development. Any cost factors on filling up at the neighborhood fueling station?

I also like the description of the dash graphics. Although "fireball" might not be the best image!

NovaloadMissesPolar

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> It should have had a concave rear window (like the Citroen C5/C6)

rognbrow

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Jonny: Awesome writing. That's all I've got to say.

SwatLax

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I still won't be happy until my car resembles the spaceship from "Flight Of The Navigator".

That's my last pointless comment of the day. I promise.

Rust-MyEnemy is stll out there!

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> My favorite part of this car is the fact that it represents Honda getting back to being Honda. This is a product that only a risk-taking, engineering focused manufacturer could have created. And it's worlds away from the cynical, bloated new Accord. It's so cool to be around to see this.

b.borrman

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @writers-block: considering that all current viable methods of producing hydrogen (including the natural-gas based solution being offered by Honda) involve fossil fuels and that the big oil companies are some of the biggest proponents of a supposed move to a hydrogen economy, I doubt they will try to kill it. In fact that is probably the only reason why so much money is being poured into hydrogen fuel cell research instead of something more feasible (not just technologically, but also in terms of infrastructure and total cost) such as applications of nano-materials to battery technologies (e.g. a123 systems) to make quick-charging long-lasting safe batteries.
If you could recharge your car in 10 minutes, and gas stations started offering you a metered plug in point, would you consider an electric vehicle to be a nuisance? Wouldn't this infrastructure shift be much cheaper and more efficient than a move to a hydrogen economy? If a123 and a few other companies (altairnano comes to mind) are to be believed (and they seem to have the credentials and some real-world applications aswell), this could easily occur within the next decade. The real question is what the cost will be at mass production levels.

Rishi

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I'd buy 2 of them if it would get Little Lyin' Al Gore to STFU!

smokeydog001

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Hydrogen w/fuel cells is basically just a storage medium for electricity. We just need to build up the infrastructure to support these sorts of things, and start producing lots of cheap electricity via nuclear power (that's how you make all the hydrogen you'll need!)

Oh, and stop making all these alternative-power vehicles so friggen butt-ugly. Make a normal looking car. So far, only Tesla has gotten this right.

TrackpediaCow

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @ Schalliol -

car makers are pursuing hydrogen because (a) after the EV1 fiasco CARB severely biased its ZEV regs in favor of FCVs, (b) the taxpayer is subsidizing the R&D and (c) PEMFCs are so expensive there is little danger their emergence will disrupt the auto industry's focus on ICEs for models that have to achieve significant unit volume.

Honda will not be making a profit on the Clarity even at $600/mo leases. Not even close.

To be fair, CARB, Congress and the auto industry have recognized that recent advances in battery technology are making plug-in hybrids and even BEVs more realistic prospects than ever. However, EPA has not yet granted California a waiver on regulating CO2, so CARB will for now have to keep its focus strictly on toxic emissions.

rgseidl

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Great job Honda!

I applaud any and all technology that will allow me to keep driving without refueling on the dinosaur.

I know we need oil for all sorts of things, but I grow ever more tired of being subjected to the escalating price required to run my car. I don't mind the occasional tank to fuel the fun car, but daily driving costs just piss me off.

Adidac425

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @harumph: Yeah, I don't know fo sure how much of it was hydrogen that caused the big explosion="sustained fire", but hey, if it's safer than we think, more power to hydrogen. But anyway, hydrogen cars might be like a new format that may or may not prove long-lasting but I'm all up for it. I personally believe electric vehicles would be the key to the answer. @Schalliol: I hope so too, that the battery technology would be sufficiently deveoped soon, to the point that the transition from fossil-fueled vehicle to electric would make the most sense.

akirachan

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> How long will it take for the oil companies to kill this one off once the ball gets rolling?

writers-block

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @harumph: Part of the problem too is that a realistically sized fuel cell for an automobile is fairly expensive to make right now, more so than a comparable internal combustion engine. However, there are brilliant people in industry and academia working to make fuel cells realistic.

And another interesting fact, in my fuel cells class at the University of Iowa, the professor noted that the time between the initial prototypes and mass production of the internal combustion engine is roughly the same as the time between initial fuel cell prototypes and now, meaning that (if fuel cells follow roughly the same timeline as internal combustion engines), the time could be right for the mass production of a commercially viable fuel cell.

elwood

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I don't get it. Why not just go from hybrid gas to plug-in hybrid gas, and then straight to plug-in only? That's going to be more efficient and as batteries improve, which will allow going beyond daily driving (like Hymotion's Prius) to full day driving (quick recharge while you sleep or eat) to multi-day non-stop driving. No new infrastructure is needed and we can get the efficiency of large power generation facilities. Further, such cars will be easier to maintain than what we seem to have with the FCX, which looks like hybrid hydrogen-electric. By the time the FCX (and similar) reach the masses, battery technology should be sufficiently developed.

Schalliol

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @akirachan: i think the hydrogen would just be a quick fireball, it wouldn't make a sustained fire. i heard someone on the radio after 9/11 saying that if we ran planes on hydrogen and someone were to crash it into a building the resulting fireball would burn itself out almost immediately with no cascading fuel or other serious fire to speak of. hydrogen's better at least.

harumph

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @Mark Miller: We could probably get a ballpark figure for the CD if someone just parked it next to a 2nd-gen Intrepid. Those, I believe, are something like a .28, which is as low-drag as a non-exotic car gets. This Honda is a very, very similar shape (other than that it's got enough styling to not look like the big gray suppositories Chrysler used to sell).

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @akirachan: There was a bit on Mythbusters about that. Interesting stuff. I remember seeing/reading somewhere ages ago that the hydrogen itself was the least of the Hindenburg's problems, what with how almost all of it dissipated before it could burn.

In retrospect, I suppose it was a poor idea to cover a giant damn hydrogen balloon in thermite/solid rocket fuel. The phrase "Nazi Death Machine" wasn't coined for nothing, after all (well, that and swingaxle aircooled VWs).

Back to the matter at hand: this is a really, really interesting car. There is absolutely no reason why we can't give up fossil fuels without giving up personal transportation, and if this gets off the ground, then we're well on our way. Honda has a potential Prius-killer on their hands, if they can make it halfway affordable. I like that the styling is reasonably unique, without being goofy, as well. It's a handsome, interesting-to-look-at car, regardless of the drivetrain.

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Not only is the technology impressive, the design/styling is too. Did Honda tell you what the drag coefficient is? It manages to look pleasingly contemporary without being too far out, resembling a conventional three-box four-door sedan, and yet your photos reveal a very aerodynamic shape. The primary backlight is nearly horizon and the greenhouse comes to a narrow terminus. I'd say easily in the 0.2something range.

Mark Miller

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @PaulE: ha ha! that's brilliant! Just a little trivia here: They did an investigation years later on what could have been the possible cause of Hindenburg's explosion, and they came out with this: research shows that the major component in the start of the fire was the skin, due to the doping compound used on it [the coatings on the fabric contained both iron oxide and aluminum-impregnated cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB). These components are potentially reactive, even after fully setting. In fact, iron oxide and aluminum are sometimes used as components of solid rocket fuel or thermite. The propellant for the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster includes "aluminum (fuel, 16%), (and) iron oxide (a catalyst, 0.4%)."] Of course hydrogen inside of the skin was the cause of most of the burning.

akirachan

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> With a home refueling station available, it seems like Honda would be able to roll out a car/fuel station package to commuters around the country. If I could afford it, I would seriously consider getting one.

ratbark

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @no_slushbox: trees? bush is working on getting rid of those too, just give it time.

harumph

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @lascauxcaveman: Not to mention that buyin a furrin' car will further weaken the dollar.

EdFinnerty

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @lascauxcaveman: Trees consume C02, so obviously people that don't drive C02 producing cars hate trees.

@PaulE: Sweet, the future will be cooler.

no_slushbox

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @FreeMan: the only real impracticality is a lack of filling stations. that and the fact that it hydrogen is tricky to produce.
at least that is what i understand.

harumph

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> So when can I swap this powerplant into an MG Midget?

Heep

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I am going to get this car!

sos10

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> So when greenies drive this, instead of a Prius, they're actually actually driving green.

Like Plasma and Blu-ray and aircraft carriers, this WILL be cheaper than 600/month someday. This is the first step.

For now, I'd like the blue marble-to-burning sun accelerator symbol in my Civic, please...

bmoredlj

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> @no_slushbox: What else? der Hindenburgs!

Amazing car.

PaulE

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Looks like an odd infusion of Insight and Prius, with a little LH platform thrown in for confusion.

While I wouldn't mind cruising around emitting only water (from the car, not me!), it will be quite a while before any of this is practical.

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> "tank-to-wheel energy efficiency is more than double that of Honda's existing hybrids, and three times that of their small internal combustion cars like the Fit."
Sounds like a very promising idea for the solution to the gasoline dependency and environmental problems, especially if the hydrogen is produced with renewable resources, as mentioned in the article. And as they say, "something has got to give!" Hope to see more of this kind of news.

akirachan

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> I refuse to believe that this car exists, because it does not fit in with my preconcieved notions about dinosaur juice being the only viable means of propelling a motor vehicle.

If it turns out I'm wrong, and the car does exist, then I will believe that somehow the car's makeup of materials, manufacturing process, or operations will somehow be worse for the environment than a big smoky V8.

And I will find a link to a website soon that supports that view.

[/snark]

lascauxcaveman

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> Interesting to see it with people for comparison. It looks a lot smaller than I was expecting. I though it was Odessey sized. Very nice.

workingonyourinvoice

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> QOTD: In the future, when we are all driving hydrogen powered cars, what kinds of high tech weapons will hydrogen station owners use to attack each other with?

no_slushbox

]]> <![CDATA[Honda FCX Clarity]]> not to nitpick but more interior shots would have been good.

me jealous, i love this kind of stuff.

harumph

]]>