Honda Clarity hybrid hydrogen electric car.
Why hybrid electric hydrogen vehicles?
Because they are potentially the best clean fuel solution.
Honda thinks so. Several countries including South Korea Germany, Italy and the state of California in the USA agree.
They have more good reasons to back hydrogen/electric fueled cars with the introduction of the latest Honda Clarity FCX.
The early model Clarity (made in 2007) was tested on Top Gear some time back. Even Jeremy Clarkson loved the car to drive, but this new one is a long way better than that!.
What's so special about the 2010 Honda Clarity?
It's over 397 pounds lighter than the first model.
It has 120% better power-to-weight ratio.
Fuel efficiency has improved another 20%.
Is 45% more compact and 10% more energy-efficient!
* South Korea is just completing a full coverage of hydrogen filling stations along all it's highways. Italy and Germany have a hydrogen highway planned to run between their countries. Italy already has one running through it.California has had hydrogen filling stations for some time now.
The beautiful new Honda Clarity.
Honda Clarity rear quarter.
The Honda Carity's simple drive train.
Clarity dash and rear view.
Honda's solution.
The Honda Clarity is already on the road in California as well as seeing daily use by the Japanese Government.
This latest Clarity is so far ahead of the previous car made in 2007, I feel for anyone stuck with the earlier model as good as it was.
Honda
continues to produce 200 of these cars at a time, rumoured to be costing $2.5
million dollars a piece including R&D. All the development costs will have to be paid for before mass production prices
can drop to reflect the real production cost after R&D. but it is guaranteed it will be much cheaper in time, as it has many fewer moving parts than a conventional car.
The Clarity will eventually be very economical to manufacture, maintain and own, as the cost comes down as Honda is able to spread the cost across mass sales.
Drive systems as simple as this may be expensive to design, but certainly not to make.
Like computers, cars
will get cheaper by using simple direct drive systems such as the
Clarity employs, as well as their innovative use of common organic materials to replace plastics.
The new car can barely be compared with the first model.
Improvements in the vehicle have enabled a huge power/weight ratio improvement, shedding hundreds of lbs as components have been re-designed to be more efficient and lightweight.
The results are startling! It can now travel 30% further than the previous model!
The Clarity is well stocked with safety devices. Multiple airbags with 2 deployment modes, lots of passive and active safety systems are employed to assist with steering and braking. All the usual Honda safety features and luxuries you would expect and then some.
Hydrogen car filling station
Home based hydrogen fuel generators.
Honda have now developed a home based hydrogen generator that uses gas to convert hydrogen to run the home and fill the car.
The latest news is that Honda has already made a solar powered hydrogen filling pump for service stations.
It will come as no surprise to readers of my automotive articles that I admire Honda engineering and innovations. There is other exciting developments taking place in Solar / hydrogen production.
Hydrogen Filling station
Hydrogen filling stations.
Your home may be running on hydrogen in the near future too.
The latest technology sees hydrogen being converted directly from solar panels without the need of a compressor.
Many believe that hydrogen is the fuel for our future, and Honda have made it clear they will leave no stone unturned in creating direct solar/hydrogen solutions for production.
Some very big companies, and whole countries are installing hydrogen delivery systems.
FCX Concept car
FCX concept car Interior
The specifications for this next generation Honda FCX Hydrogen fuel cell electric car are encouraging.
I believe Honda have a formula that will not only work far better than the hybrids and battery electric cars offered so far, but the way to go for future fuel use, as hydrogen is abundant and the new cells are much more efficient.
The Honda Clarity power system is ingenious.
With a tank of hydrogen compressed to 5,00 ft/lbs and oxygen taken from the atmosphere these new generation fuel cells can convert the combined gases directly to electricity without the use of massive heavy batteries.
Electricity cannot be stored as electricity, which is why we have needed many heavy batteries to store chemical energy and convert it to electricity as required. Until now that is!
Now we can store hydrogen, pass it through a fuel cell and convert it to a lot of electricity immediately, allowing a smaller battery to be used more as short term storage and to control voltage and amperes.
The direct drive is provided by a silent Alternating Current (AC) electric motor through a fast pass-through battery which produces no pollution. Only small quantity of water as waste are produced when the electricity is made by the fuel cells. No pollution from the exhaust.
No
doubt there will be more that can be done in the development of their
vertical flow fuel cell technology, but 240 to 270 miles on a tank full
of hydrogen? Not bad at all!
Honda Clarity front.
Look! No more heavy batteries!
The beautiful thing about the Clarity is the simplicity of the motor and drive system.
The relatively small and light lithium iron battery is electronically monitored, and able to deliver a lot of power. 134 horsepower in fact! The complex vertical flow fuel cells Honda developed for the Clarity enable enough electricity to be produced on demand to make this a quick car with a fuel efficiency equivalent to 61mpg.
This type of power system although expensive and complex to develop, is cheap to manufacture, has few parts that wear out, and should last a very long time.
Even the floor mats in the Clarity are recyclable, as are the heated and cooled seats. Honda has made a major effort to turn car ecology around.
The Clarity is available for lease at $600 per month on a three year lease, only in California at this time. Honda pay for all servicing including any damage to the vehicle.
It looks like Honda hybrids are going to be a viable alternative to gasoline engines in the near future.
Read more automotive articles below.
Sunlight to hydrogen technology is here!
- Sunlight to Fuel Hydrogen Future
Solar power these days comes from cells that turn light into electricity, but researchers are now working on materials that can crank out hydrogen. By John Gartner.
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Test drive
- First Drive: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity
We drive into the future with the 2009 Honda FCX Clarity, the first fuel-cell vehicle that not only drives like a real car but can also be leased like a real car.
- Honda FCX Clarity Overview - Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle - Site
Learn about the Honda FCX Clarity, the world's first dedicated platform hydrogen vehicle. It's the zero-emission sedan of the future. A reality today. Developed with fuel cell technology, the FCX uses a remarkable new alternative fuel source.
Fuel cell - gas - hybrid comparison.
- Honda FCX Clarity - Home Energy Station - Official Web Site
Learn about Honda's research and development for Home Energy Stations and the FCX fuel cell electric vehicle.
