An all-new fuel-cell concept vehicle unveiled by Honda, with plans for a production version to go on sale in Japan by March 2016 before being introduced worldwide.
Honda hopes the FCV Concept, which uses the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen as its power source, will be one step further toward a CO2-free society.
The Japanese car maker has been a pioneer of hydrogen fuel-cell power, which it has been researching and developing for over 25 years. The Honda FCX became the first fuel-cell vehicle in the world to be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency when it went on lease-sale in 2002, and the Honda FC STACK followed on the next year as the first fuel-cell vehicle able to start at sub-zero temperatures. The Honda FCV Concept will lead to a successor model to the current FCX Clarity, which was released in 2008, with the manufacturer aiming for the next-generation fuel-cell vehicle to see both an improvement in performance and a reduction in cost.
Honda also aims for the next-generation FCV to be more practical in a bid to attract a wider customer base. The production model should seat five adults comfortably, and feature a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank which not only offers a cruising range of over 430 miles, but which can be fully refilled in around three minutes.
The new fuel-cell stack in the Honda FCV Concept is a third smaller than before, but with an output of over 100kw brings an improvement in performance of around 60%. The Honda FCV Concept also features a Power Export Concept, an innovative external power feeding device which enables up to 9kw of AC power output, and enables the car to function as a small-sized mobile power plant to generate and provide electricity to the community in emergency situations.
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