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7:08 AM
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by Abhishek Chaliha
The hydrogen powered next generation Honda FCX Clarity has been around for a couple of years now and it makes electric cars look like dinosaurs. Read on to know more about the vehicle that is undoubtedly the future of motoring
Honda’s advanced FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car is the world’s first production fuel cell car. This zero emissions vehicle is as practical and convenient as a fossil fuel powered car. The car runs on hydrogen and the only end product is water. But unlike electric cars that have a confined driving range limited by the battery and take an eternity to charge the FCX Clarity can be refuelled at a hydrogen filling station just the way a gasoline powered car is refuelled, it takes about the same time to fill up its hydrogen tank as it takes to fill up a normal fuel tank.
The vehicle is based on an entirely new fuel cell platform called Honda V Flow which is powered by an efficient, highly compact and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack. This new fuel cell stack by Honda featured huge improvements over weight, efficiency, driving range and power over that of other fuel cell stacks. The new fuel cell stack and hydrogen motor have overcome all the drawbacks of a traditional hydrogen vehicle, which means that the FCX Clarity looks like a normal car with none of the drawbacks of a car that uses alternative sources of fuel. With the FCX Clarity Honda have proved the real world performance and appeal of a hydrogen powered car can be the same as that of a traditional car powered by fossil fuel. The Honda FCX Clarity has a range of 432 kilometres on a single tank of fuel.
The vehicle is based on an entirely new fuel cell platform called Honda V Flow which is powered by an efficient, highly compact and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack. This new fuel cell stack by Honda featured huge improvements over weight, efficiency, driving range and power over that of other fuel cell stacks. The new fuel cell stack and hydrogen motor have overcome all the drawbacks of a traditional hydrogen vehicle, which means that the FCX Clarity looks like a normal car with none of the drawbacks of a car that uses alternative sources of fuel. With the FCX Clarity Honda have proved the real world performance and appeal of a hydrogen powered car can be the same as that of a traditional car powered by fossil fuel. The Honda FCX Clarity has a range of 432 kilometres on a single tank of fuel.
The reason for the failure of electric cars and hybrids is because they fail to meet the real world practicality and performance of a gasoline powered car. Electric cars have a terrible driving range and have poor cabin space because of all the batteries packed in here and there. Hybrids prove no point at all as there are small diesel cars that are more economical. The ride, handling and performance of these vehicles are not at all good due to heavy batteries and uneven weight distribution.
The Honda FCX Clarity has none of those drawbacks. The hydrogen motor upfront has only one moving part so reliability will be very good. The performance of the vehicle is at par with other four door family sedans of its size. In short the FCX Clarity will do to the gasoline powered family car what it has been doing to electric cars, it renders the other completely useless.
The FCX Clarity uses compressed hydrogen from its hydrogen tank and combines atmospheric oxygen in the fuel stack where energy from the reaction is converted into electricity to power the electric motor which drives the wheels of the car. The main components of the car include an electric motor, hydrogen tank, fuel cell stack and a battery pack. All the components have been made compact and distributed throughout the vehicle for optimising space, comfort and drive dynamics.
As with any invention initially the cost of the product is high. But given a mass production of these vehicles the FCX Clarity will cost the same as a normal four door family sedan to buy and maintain. Hydrogen is one of the most abundant substances in the atmosphere but it is very complex and expensive to extract from the atmosphere and store. Once technology develops and can extract and store hydrogen on a large scale there will be no looking back, hydrogen is the fuel of the future. As of now it is only limited by technology.
The Honda FCX Clarity was made available to the public on lease for a fixed amount of time in the United States of America and Japan, so that customers could experience the car over a period of time. Elsewhere in the world it did not make its presence felt primarily due to the lack of hydrogen filling stations. Between the 8th and 11th of September 2011 it will make its UK debut in the low carbon motor festival called the EcoVelocity Show. Alongside the FCX Clarity will be Honda’s range of eco-friendly hybrid cars, the Jazz Hybrid, CR-Z and the Insight. Visitors will get a chance to test drive these cars on a ‘just turn up’ basis. The EcoVelocity Show held at Battersea Power Station will showcase to prospective buyers the latest in eco-friendly automobile technology.
The Honda FCX Clarity was made available to the public on lease for a fixed amount of time in the United States of America and Japan, so that customers could experience the car over a period of time. Elsewhere in the world it did not make its presence felt primarily due to the lack of hydrogen filling stations. Between the 8th and 11th of September 2011 it will make its UK debut in the low carbon motor festival called the EcoVelocity Show. Alongside the FCX Clarity will be Honda’s range of eco-friendly hybrid cars, the Jazz Hybrid, CR-Z and the Insight. Visitors will get a chance to test drive these cars on a ‘just turn up’ basis. The EcoVelocity Show held at Battersea Power Station will showcase to prospective buyers the latest in eco-friendly automobile technology.
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