Yesterday, Honda demonstrated its newest generation FCX fuel cell vehicle at the Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, California. The new generation Honda FCX fuel cell is an upgrade from the 2005 Honda FCX hydrogen car that is being used in fleets by different government agencies and a family in Southern California.
The Jon and Sandy Spallino family has been driving the 2005 Honda FCX hydrogen car since June 2005 and supposedly the only trouble they’ve had with that vehicle has been a flat tire. Improvements over the last generation FCX include is the vertical gas flow arrangement utilizing gravity for more efficiency and to manage the discharge of water. The newest generation fuel cell in the FCX also has better cold cranking power, allowing the vehicle to start in temperatures as low as -30C.
Three electric motors are also used by the newest generation FCX to power the vehicle. One 95kw motor powers the front wheels and each rear wheel has a 25kw motor powering it. In the newer FCX, the fuel cell also delivers 14kw more power and the car uses a lithium ion battery pack for auxiliary power.
Honda expects to put the new generation FCX into limited production in 2008.