FCX Clarity hits the road

[SVOboy]

Well, as you may or may not know, the FCX concept from honda came out as the Clarity recently and well be hitting the road under leases this summer. Very interesting stuff. The technology is growing leaps and bounds right now, hopefully it continues on that patter until it is viable.

Some from the NYT:

OFTEN, it is the smallest of gestures that deliver the most powerful messages. I was reminded of this last month when I settled into the driver’s seat of the FCX Clarity, a sedan powered by fuel cells that Honda will begin leasing to a handful of private customers next summer. Fresh from a briefing that detailed the car’s NASA-grade complexity, I wondered what procedures might be required to start the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen and bring the power supply to life.

In fact, it took nothing more than inserting an entirely conventional metal key into a normal-looking switch and pushing a power button much like the one that starts the Honda S2000 sports car. The familiarity of the steps — deliberate gestures, I think, to convince drivers that the cars of our future aren’t so frightening after all — reinforced the message of the meeting I had just left: the FCX Clarity is ready now.

[Lazarus]

Honda will begin leasing to a handful of private customers next summer.

That's way cool.
Hopefully they won't follow in GM footsteps and go the way of the EV1?

[SVOboy]

The most recent things I have heard about the lease is that it is set for 2 years or so but will be extended indefinately until a newer, better "production" model comes out. Honda's reasoning for this is that when new technology comes out they want everyone to be driving it.

Who knows, but I don't think it'll turn out that way.

[AndrewJ]

me neither,
battery technology will come along faster than Hydrogen manufacture and storage technology. EV's > HFC's