The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell hydrogen car has gone on sale today, March 10, 2016. So write this down in your journal as this expects to be a significant part of hydrogen car history.
The 5-seat commercial Honda Clarity Fuel Cell boasts a range of 466 miles (by comparison the Toyota Mirai has a 312 mile range). The Clarity Fuel Cell also has a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, 103 kW PEM fuel cell, 130 kW electric motor and a bank of lithium ion batteries. The vehicle can be refueled in 3 minutes.
Honda expects to sell around 200 of the Clarity’s to businesses and government entities in Japan. The sticker price is approximately $67,967 USD. With a government subsidy of $17,700 USD this brings down the price into the $50,000 USD range.
If you would like the vehicle in White Orchid Pearl, this will cost you about $400 USD extra. If you would like the vehicle in Premium Brilliant Garnet Metallic this will cost you about $575 USD extra.
The Honda Clarity Fuel Cell can also be coupled with the optional Power Exporter 9000 ($10,390 USD) which can supply an average household 7 days of electricity and can be quite useful in emergency situations.
The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell hydrogen car is expected to rollout in the USA and Europe later this year.
References
http://world.honda.com/news/2016/4160310eng.html?from=r
https://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/index.php/honda-fcv/
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-gm-fuelcells-idUSKCN0WC0DP
Exciting news ! Though the car is priced pretty high..
Hi Ed, it’s a matter of perspective. When you compare the Clarity to a gasoline powered vehicle then it is priced high. But, when you compare it to another commercial fuel cell vehicle such as the Toyota Mirai or Hyundai Tucson FCEV then it is competitively priced.
A true beauty !
The current fuel cell vehicles are a cool beta test. Hopefully, next gen technology plus volume will allow the automakers to meet their pricing goals:
“Honda Motor Co., beginning sales of its Clarity Fuel Cell sedan in Japan, said joint work with General Motors Co. will help bring hydrogen-powered vehicle costs down to the level of hybrids within the next decade.
The Japanese and U.S. automakers are studying joint production and procurement for fuel cell components with the aim of lowering costs to parity with hybrids by 2025, President Takahiro Hachigo said Thursday in Tokyo.”
Hi Dave, thanks for the link. Yes, prices will keep coming down on FCEV’s. Ten years ago hydrogen cars cost over $1 million to build, so prices have come down drastically since then and will continue to drop.
The Clarity Fuel Cell has a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage tank. This is more than 10,000 psi or almost 700 atm pressure. It is expensive to compress and make hydrogen into liquid. Another reason for the high price of hydrogen powered vehicles is the price of the platinum used as a catalyst in the fuel cell. The DOE has been given money to university and government research laboratories to discover a substitute for Platinum , but Platinum still used today.
Hydrogen fuel cells are still expensive because of many reasons. Two important reason of why hydrogen fuel cells are expensive are:
1-Hydrogen fuel cells require the very expensive Platinum (white gold) as a catalyst for both the hydrogen and the oxygen electrodes.The DOE spoils universities and government research institute by giving them easy money to find a substitute for Platinum, but still Platinum is used today.
2-Hydrogen fuel cell used a thin plastic called electrolyte which separate the oxygen from the hydrogen electrodes, but allow protons to go through. This plastic is called Nafion manufactured by Dupont company.This plastic or electrolyte is very expensive to make and during production of this Nafion too much pollution is produced. Not to mention that it is not efficient.
It is only a matter of time until platinum free fuel cells take over. I’ve been blogging about this type of research for the past several year. When this tech takes over, the price of fuel cells will drop significantly and this barrier into market entry will be broken once and for all.
Honda has come out with a high-pressure Smart Hydrogen Station with no compressor. http://world.honda.com/automobile-technology/SmartHydrogenStation/power_creator.html