Honda Clarity could come to Oz
December 24, 2008 by David Twomey
Honda Australia could eventually introduce the company’s leading-edge technology FCX Clarity hydrogen powered car to Australia if the support infrastructure becomes available.
Honda Australia’s Senior Director, Mr. Lindsay Smalley said while there were no immediate plans to import the FCX Clarity to Australia, it is part of Honda’s long-term vision.
“The lack of infrastructure in this country is the biggest hurdle, however the FCX Clarity shows that Honda has introduced the future to the world today.
“Honda has been a world leader in producing low emission vehicles, dating back to the original Civic in 1972 with its ultra-clean CVCC engine. We’ve introduced hybrid and natural gas powered cars and in the future it is our vision to provide the world with the ultimate emissions-free car, the FCX Clarity,” said Mr. Smalley.
He was commenting on the announcement that following its successful launch in the US, Honda has begun leasing the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell car in Japan, delivering the first vehicle to the Ministry of the Environment.
While Honda plans to lease the FCX Clarity to government agencies and selected corporate entities, the roll out is part of the company’s broader commitment to lease the FCX Clarity to at least 200 customers in the United States and Japan over the next three years.
A dedicated fuel cell vehicle, the four-seater FCX Clarity runs on electricity produced by combining hydrogen with oxygen and emits only water vapour. Honda claims the vehicle is twice as energy efficient as a petrol-electric hybrid with three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, petrol-powered car.
The FCX Clarity is powered by the Honda V Flow fuel cell stack that powers the car’s motor. A breakthrough in the design of the fuel cell stack has enabled engineers to lighten the body, expand the interior and increase efficiency.
Launched in the US in July, the FCX Clarity was the first hydrogen car certified for regular commercial use by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
One of the first customers to lease the FCX Clarity was Hollywood star Jamie Lee-Curtis. Other well-known Honda FCX Clarity drivers from the world of entertainment are actress Laura Harris from the television show 24 and film producer Ron Yerxa.
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Is it a prerequisit for all hybrid/green fuel cars to be as ugly as a bucket full of smashed crabs?
Well I think after this car’s coverage on last weeks Top Gear where May drove it in the US it has given some attention to and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it here in Australia. We always seem to miss out on new technologies in the automotive industry, or get them years after Europe and USA.
It looks strangly like a Prius though… Honda should work on that!!
Yeah, especially if they want the general public to accept them. They need to look better that is for sure. James May drove this car on a recent Top Gear and said it was fantastic, mostly because of how “normal” it was to drive. Just needs to look a bit more normal, or special… But I guess most Hondas are not really lookers to start with.
Well, doesn’t the Prius sell ok (Before the economic crisis), even though its ugly it sells. No doubt this one would either, There is a market for Toyota haters but still wants a japanese car & who want to go green, and the Clarity is an opportunity. IMO it looks better than a prius.
Well, doesn’t the Prius sell ok (Before the economic crisis), even though its ugly it sells. No doubt this one would either, There is a market for Toyota haters but still wants a japanese car & who want to go green, and the Clarity is an opportunity. IMO it looks better than a prius.
After watching Top Gear and James May’s review, it shows how important this car is and how reduntant the Prius is compared to this, in terms of being a green car.
The whole prius/passat love-in look is deliberate as Honda got burned before with the civic hybrid in the states, because even though it was significantly cheaper than the prius, because it looked like a normal car, no one bought it. People like to say that they buy hybrid cars because they ‘care about the environment’, but a large part of their appeal is that their distinctive looks (read butt ugly) advertises to anyone that can see them “i’m forward and progressive, i vote democrat and care about the environment, I’m different from mainstream society”.
The prius tapped into a movement in the US, a visual representation of the protest many americans had about how the country was heading. Arguably it was dragged to a success it never deserved, but it visually showed that you were almost rebelling against the image they had of an oil stealing, war mungering, environment killing Bush administration.
Now that Obama has been sworn in, it will be interesting to see what happens to hybrid sales. Obama has already shown himself to be very sciency (good use of ingrish i know) and environmentally minded, so the “i’m buying a hybrid to show i care” factor will diminish and replaced with ‘the government cares about the environment, they’ll do something to fix it’. People will feel less compelled to address the issue themselves at their own expense. Not until oil prices go up and beyond $US147 a barrel will hybrid sales get back up to anywhere near the sales levels they were before *unless* hybrids evolve to the point they are good cars in their own right, and the hybrid part is just an added extra. In that environment, I think hybrids that don’t shout out their ‘hybridness’ will be more successful, particularly with the stigma that traditional prius owners are starting to generate.
Shame though, the clarity is the way of the future, hydrogen fuel cell, a car that actually handles like a car. The electric hybrid camp like to say that the cost of producing hydrogen is too much, too polluting, like making lithium-ion batteries by the kilotonne is as environmentally friendly as a butterfly landing on a dandelion to the sounds of birds singing. Already scientists have bred bacteria that convert carbon monoxide into hydrogen gas, water electrolysis powered by renewable energy is also a good alternative, and you can use pretty crappy water to do it. Yes plug in hybrids are techincally the most energy efficient way, but unless they get charge times down to minutes, and ranges out to several hundred kilometres, they will never be as practical as current technology. Hydrogen fuel cells give us that current day practicality, but with the bonus of zero emissions.
Maybe the Govt could recall the gift to Toyota for the Hybrid Camry, and use the money to build a Hydrogen fuel infrastructure.
Then this car would make a heap of sense, except that the excise on hydrogen fuel would make it the same cost to run as petrol.
Let’s face it, when Australia cuts its fuel use in half due to alternatives, who believes the Govt of the day will be happy with half the fuel tax ???
They’ll keep increasing tax/levy on whatever alternative is used to keep the revenue constant and increasing.
Spending the money on hydrogen infrastructure would be a great use of KRudd’s environmental fund as E85 Commodores and Camry Hybrids will do nothing but green wash government fleets.
The only issue i see with Hydrogen is that if it replaces oil, who will control the supply of hydrogen? Shell? Mobil? British Petroleum? Chevron? and it’s environmental benefits are only there if the hydrogen is produced in environmentally sensitive ways.
Going with the perfect world scenario where the infrastructure is there, the clean hydrogen is there, we are back at the mercy of big oil because they are the ones with the ability to provide the required infrastructure. Once again leaving us vulnerable to their ability to control and manipulate prices.
I believe hydrogen would make a good replacement for ICE’s in E-REV’s but in the long term, Kevin Rudd should move towards electric vehicle infrastrucute….converting parking meters into charging stations, providing incentives and tax breaks on electric vehicles and introducing charging bays in public car parks.
It would be alot cheaper than converting petrol stations to Hydrogen, and eletric cars powered by coal are still more enviromentaly sounds than conventional cars.
The return of cheap fuel will delay alternative technologies indefinately as Australians and Americans keep the gas guzzlers they’ve grown to love. But i’m not complaining, as a P-Plater it stretches the little money i have just that much further.
of course they will reckless,
just like when we cut our water consumption and start putting in tanks,
they are now going to hit us with a rainwater tax to make up for the water boards lost revenue.
we are currently being or will be slammed on our electricity too
lets just hope they dont outlaw smoking. plenty of tax$$ will need to find somewhere else to come from too
These ‘green cars’ all look very similar because the shape of their body is dictated by aerodynamics. The Prius started the trend and everything that follows has looked similar becuase Toyota hit the nail on the head when it came to making a practical 4 seater as slippery as possible.
Everyone should start getting used to this design trend driven by fuel consumption rather than non-functional aesthetics.
No Brett, it’s because they want to show that the fuel system is more economical than other hybrids so they use the basic hybrid design of the most recognised hybrid on the market, the Prius.
Brett
Co efficient drag, i bet there is next to no wind noise. Will Australia have the new car volume for Honda to justify bringing it to OZ?
All though this car maybe a good drive it looks like a total piece of S**T!
If you saw the Top Gear episode with the Honda Clarity, you would also have seen the Tesla that went around the track at Porche GT3 times. That had half a ton in batteries, wonder how it would perform with a Hydrogen fuel cell. So the tech for high performance electric sports cars seems to exist at this time, pitty that GM Holden Australia just got a millions from the Aust. Gov. to develop green tech and are spending it on another Combustion engine! Maybe the Australian PM should have invested that money in infrastructure for the future thats here now.. Well done Honda.
And no tax-payer hand-outs required to develop these advanced environment friendly cars.
Take note GMH…after having to bail you out with my hard earned money, I will be purchasing my next car elsewhere.
I also think the car looks nice..looks nothing like a prius.
I think most people miss the point of wanting an alternative to petrol/diesel. It doesnt matter if the oil companies or the government control hydrogen supply and price. Without fuel taxes and the people the industry supports our society comes to a crashing halt. The dream for free energy for your transportation is a dangerous, short sighted illusion. Its supply thats important, whne the world oil supplies dwindles we need a steady realiable replacement and either electric or hydrogen fit the bill and best of all the cost of these is not subject to overseas crisis and instability as we will be able to generate and create our own fuels here. If Rudd really was fair dinkum he would have spent 10.4 billion on hydrogen or elec infrastructure instead of a cheap typical labour vote buy. Sad to see labour waste money that could have changed our lives. Dont get me wrong, Howard was just as guilty he had the money and didnt use it either.
Bring it on!
I wanted to buy a G-Wiz (Reva in Australia) electric car, but go stalled by Government red tape.
Now I want to get a Honda Clarity .. but how long do we have to wait for hydrogen filling stations? Who will take the initaive? The stations must come before the cars, but without Government backing, noone will make the investment to provide hydrogen fueling without a return on investment.
I agree with the previous poster: abandon all Hybrid development in favour of building a hydrogen infrastructure.
But it must go further, industry must prove to consumers that electric, hydrogen fuelled cars are reliable and ‘normal’ enough for everyday use. How is this done? via motorsport of course!
Either in a different catgeory, or have them compete side-by-side with a comparible class petrol powered vehicle.
We all saw the Tesla on Top Gear, so we know they are fast enough. We just need this proven to the mass market.
Halon
Love GTR – The prius got plenty of tax payer handouts during its development,Anti-Spam word R34GTR,how ironic.
My hat goes off to Honda, they may have just saved the world of motoring as we know it.