We just spent the better part of a week in the fabulous Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicle. It is leaps and bounds beyond the science experiments that represented the first few rounds of fuel cells we remember from 20 or so years ago. Those were huge, ungainly laboratory things that wheezed and whirred, their insides packed to the glass with tubes, hoses, industrial-strength blowers and engineers with laptops on their laps telling you not to touch anything.
The FCX, on the other hand, is state-of-the-art. For instance, the fuel-cell stack is so compact and efficient that it now fits in the center armrest, cranking out almost twice the hydrogen of the stacks that Honda had just 10 years ago. The lithium-ion battery pack is smaller, lighter and more efficient than the ultracapacitor it replaced, so small that it stows under the rear seat. Combined with the inherent compactness of electric motors, that frees up the interior for all kinds of roominess.
The Clarity (not affiliated with or licensed by the popular antihistamine Claritin) accommodates five real adults in spacious comfort on seats made of sustainable, renewable biofabric, a material made from ethanol. During our time with the FCX, we stopped every 10 to 15 minutes to get out of the car and hug some trees.
Sure, there are little nits to pick, as there are in all EVs. How much regen do you program into the brake pedal to balance efficiency with pedal feel? Why do these things sound like aircraft-turbine fan motors every now and then? And oh, by the way, where are we supposed to get the freaking hydrogen? These things require pure H2 to ram through membranes in the fuel-cell stack and squeeze out electrons that will then spin the motor and make the car go.
Right now, there are precious few sources of the stuff. We had to have a Honda representative drive down to use a special key fob to unlock an H2 pump at the University of California, Irvine, so that we could get enough H2 to drive home. That's a temporary hurdle. Infrastructure can be built.
The bigger problem is that you can't get enough small-fingered little guys with monocles to use enough dinky tweezers to separate the hydrogen molecules you're going to need to power this spaceship. Hydrogen likes to cling to just about anything it can cling to, so finding pure H2 (it even likes to cling to itself!) is nigh impossible. You have to separate it out, and that takes time and energy and--no matter how you slice it--produces carbon dioxide.
Pretty much everyone who took high-school science knows that getting hydrogen from water through electrolysis is inefficient. You run electricity through water and capture the hydrogen that bubbles up. But it takes a pile of electricity to get any reasonably useful amounts of hydrogen to do that. Honda says that using steam re-formation of natural gas (methane) is much more efficient than electrolysis and that you can even do it at a home station, thus adding to the efficiency.
That's true, but if you're going to use all of that electricity to make hydrogen, why not cut out the added hoop and simply charge a battery? Fuel-cell vehicles are electric vehicles, after all. It's the same with steam re-formation of natural gas: Why not just put the natural gas straight into an NGV such as Honda's own Civic GX? There's even a home-fueling system available. It would make for one of the cleanest vehicles ever to drive down the San Diego Freeway. (Why doesn't Honda make its natural-gas Civic GX in hybrid form and truly blow everyone away?)
Well, we have awakened the soft white underbelly of hydrogen zealots, who now have a place to focus the full measure of their wrath. We are expecting a call from Honda, too, telling us to report to the hydrogen-reeducation camp immediately. If you don't hear from us for a while, that's where we'll be.
2009 HONDA FCX CLARITY
On sale: Some leases now
Base price: $600/month (lease only)
Drivetrain: 100-kW AC synchronous motor, FWD, one-speed transmission
Curb weight: 3,582 lb
0-60 MPH: 10 sec (est)
Fuel economy: 60 mi/kg H2
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