Barely any time has past since Toyota confirmed the “Mirai” name for its production hydrogen-powered car, and now Honda has fired a shot across the bow with its own fuel-cell vehicle. Called (very imaginatively) the Honda FCV Concept, the company’s latest flirtation with the lightest element on the periodic table is a development of LA 2013’s FCEV Concept, bringing the latter’s space-age design closer to sober reality.
Previewing a production model that will go on sale in Japan at the end of March 2016 (and in the US and Europe at a later date), the FCV Concept remains fairly faithful to the earlier showcar. The only significant differences include a larger cutout for the rear wheels (presumably to make tyre changes a lot easier), a reworked rear end design and the addition of fender vents and door mirrors.
The FCV Concept is said to be a successor to the FCX Clarity – the lease-only hydrogen-powered sedan introduced in 2008 – with better performance and lower cost. The new fuel-cell stack is 33% smaller than before, but power output is greater than the 100 kW produced by the Clarity, while its output density of 3.1 kW per litre trumps the Clarity’s 1.85 kW per litre by a staggering 60%.
Honda says the FCV Concept is the world’s first fuel-cell vehicle to consolidate its entire powertrain – including the smaller fuel-cell stack – under the bonnet, enabling seating for five (the Mirai, by comparison, only holds four) as well as allowing the system to be adapted to a wider range of bodytypes.
A cruising range of over 700 km is made possible thanks to a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank, which can be refilled in just three minutes, about the same as a regular fuel fill-up. Try doing that in your electric car.
When the production FCV Concept goes on sale in Japan, it will also be available with an external power feeding function, effectively turning it into a tiny mobile power plant. This will make the car handy for certain occasions, and could be essential in the event of a disaster, a distinct boon in the wake of 2011’s catastrophic Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
To that end, the company is also showcasing the Honda Power Exporter Concept – an external power feeding device which delivers AC power output from the FCV Concept at a maximum rate of 9 kW – alongside the FCV Concept.
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Mirai vs FCV. Cool, efficient piece of tech..maybe we average Msian can own one , say in 20-30 years from now?!
21st century Zeppelin!
What’s the typical cost of refueling those 70Mpa tanks? If it’s the same as good ol’ petrol, then no point shifting to this fuel mode, no?
You’re missing the whole point of the search for alternative sources of energy…
Fuel Cell cars are more efficient. Able to convert more of its chemical energy to motion.
The FCX Clarity manages something like 45-60%. A good Diesel, only 22%. Normal Petrol cars even less.
Hydrogen can be forseeable be the energy storage medium of the future. Think of hydrogen as the battery.
I remember when the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power was envisioned in the Mospeada series, which was a 1983 Anime. That goes long way..
Fuel cells where developed and used for the first space programs…all the way back in the 50s and 60s.
The problem with Fuel Cells is the distribution and storage of hydrogen.
The near future will likely see 2 types of electric powertrains. Fuel Cell (normal, long range cars)and Full Electric with supercapasitors. (smaller, shorter range city cars)
The idea goes back even further in WW2 Submarines. The Kriegsmarine(German) experimented using concentrated hydrogen peroxide thou not in fuel cell, but as a way to burn fuel for a boiler, the idea was shot down because technology at that time wasn’t enough to develop a efficient storage system. The first recorded hydrogen Fuel Cell was by a British Engineer back in 1939
Fuel Cell has been use right now as a alternative energy on the German Type 212 Submarine, currently in service with the Bundesmarine. Fuel cell are used to supplement the primary diesel-electric drive.