According to Honda, the FCX Clarity is two times more energy efficient than gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car.Unlike their previous-generation FCX coupe, the Clarity will be built at Honda's first dedicated fuel cell manufacturing plant and maintained by a network of dealers trained to service its advanced powertrain technology. Though at first the network will be comprised of just three Honda outlets located in Southern California Santa Monica, Costa Mesa, and Torrance to be exact American Honda's executive vice president John Mendel calls the move "a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream."
The initial dealers were chosen because of their proximity to hydrogen refueling stations, but over the next three years the automaker plans to lease a total of 200 FCXs in the U.S. and Japan. Maintenance for the cars will be handled just like any other Honda vehicle.
Honda chose the FCX Clarity's initial drivers based on their driving habits, vehicle needs, how close they lived to a hydrogen station and of course the ability to pay the reported $600 a month lease cost. The first production FCX Clarity will be ready in July, and is earmarked for film producer Ron Yerxa of Santa Monica, an enthusiast and environmental advocate who first learned about the fuel-cell sedan from a car magazine. Next to be given a set of keys will be actors Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest, car enthusiast Jim Salomon, actress Laura Harris, and businessman Jon Spallino. For Spallino the Clarity will be old news in 2005 he became the first world's first retail fuel-cell customer, leasing an original FCX coupe. Of the five drivers, all live in close proximity to an FCX dealer except one Harris resides in Silver Lake, California, about 20 miles of LA traffic away from Santa Monica. She will be refueling at a station in nearby Burbank, and was chosen to help Honda eventually expand the FCX program beyond its initial dealer network.
Honda is not alone in this vision quest. General Motors will have a fleet of 100 Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell SUVs on the road by the end of the year. More than 60 have already begun real-world testing by families, commercial users, and military and government agencies. Project Driveway, as the program is called, is putting 3000 participants in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington behind the wheel of Equinox FCVs for three-month stints in what will amount to a three-year trial.
GM has said it wants to have 1000 FCVs on the road by 2013, 10,000 by 2015, and 100,000 by 2018. GM and Clean Energy Fuels Corporation recently announced they will open a new hydrogen fueling station near Los Angeles International Airport by fall for use by drivers taking part in Project Driveway.
