Lo and behold, Honda is making progress with our energy concerns over oil. In 2007, Honda released it's preview of its next generation vehicle: the FCX Clarity. What make this car so remarkable is that it only runs on hydrogen. It is a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV). The only by-product it emits is water. No greenhouse gases here. Some might remember the stunt J. Leno did when he actually drank the water that came out of the tailpipe.But let's not get overly excited about this car yet. Currently you can only get it in three Southern California towns (Torrance, Santa Monica, Irvine). They will only be leased because the hydrogen refueling infrastructure is not built up enough to have these cars driving around anywhere else.
If you are wondering how fast this thing can really go, you'll be surprised to know that the FCX Clarity easily reaches 100 mph and talk about gas mileage, the FCX Clarity can go 270 miles on one tank. That's about 68 miles per gallon or double what most cars get today. But what about refueling? Well, the researchers at Honda are working on that. While construction is underway for hydrogen refueling stations, Honda is developing a possible in home refueling station. The plan is for the station to take natural gas and convert it into hydrogen so it refuels the car in a garage or outside. The other benefit is that it will power our home with the excess energy.
The interior of this beauty is none the less brilliant. It is very flash
y with a futuristic look. It can easily fit four. Test drivers found the layout of the panel easy to read and it was quieter than anything they have ever ridden. The FCX Clarity comes with all of the features one would expect from Honda such as their navigation system and even a built in i-Pod dock.Honda is not the only car company that has developed a fuel-cell vehicle. BMW recently released its version of a hydrogen powered car.
The FCX Clarity is exciting a lot of people and Honda hopes that by 2010 it will be available to the majority of the country.
1 comment:
The technology and the car is amazing, no doubt. however, the interior is nothing that new bc its pretty much the newer version of the Civic Hybrid's interior which borrowed from the Toyota Prius. Also, the body shape is lookin a lil like that, too. However, it is a very nice car and being a Honda, its def reliable for decades.
Now if only Lotus would move from their hybrid to something with an engine like this, aaaah, I think I'd be in Heaven.
Post a Comment