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Mike Sinclair6 Nov 2009
REVIEW

Honda FCX Clarity

With a hydrogen-fuelled power station between its wheels, Honda's Clarity is a peek at the future

Honda FCX Clarity
Road Test


What we liked
>> Normality of refueling and drive
>> Sleek aero looks
>> Performance sacrifice is modest


Not so much
>> A decade away from production
>> Soundtrack needs work
>> Packaging opportunities


Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine and Drivetrain: 3.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.5/5.0
X-factor: 5.0/5.0


About our ratings


Image you could fuel a car with water and all it emitted when running was the same stuff... No carbon dioxide, no particulates, no nasties -- just plain H2O.


Though we're gilding the lily a touch, that is the ultimate promise of hydrogen-fuelled fuel cell vehicles. Fuelled by the universe's most abundant element, hydrogen, fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity via a chemical reaction. In the example of a four-wheeled application, the electricity is then channelled to an electric motor, a battery or both. Welcome to the motoring experience of the future.


Currently, fuel cells are the realm of experimental vehicles -- development hacks driven by car company engineers and the like. With one exception, Honda's FCX Clarity...


First shown in FCX Concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005, the Clarity is now a (limited) production reality. Debuted at the 2007 Los Angles Motor Show, it went on 'sale' in 2008. To date, just eight have found their way into the hands of their California (USA) based owners. A ninth is the pride of the press fleet of Honda America -- and we've driven it.


Truth be told, Honda's fuel cell wonder is not really 'on sale' -- a full-sized four-place luxury car, the Clarity is available to selected customers on lease. But Honda says it will place around 200 Claritys with 'owners' in the USA and Japan between now and the cessation of production in 2011. By 2018, the company also says it will have a commercially viable fuel-cell-powered luxury car in the marketplace.


The current FCX Clarity boasts a range of more than 320km and the petrol-equivalent economy of around 3.9L/100km -- all without a gram of CO2 (at least at the car end of the hydrogen 'chain'). Performance approaches that of conventional large luxury sedans with fuel economy two or three times worse. US magazine Motor Trend measured the FCX's 0-98km/h standing start acceleration time as 9.3sec. The car has a limited top speed of approx 160km/h and delivers strong 'in-gear' acceleration.


Spread over a low wheelbase that accentuates the car's futuristic aero-inspired lines, the Clarity seats four in 'stretch out and relax' comfort. Its cabin is almost S-Class large.


This is no run-of-the-mill eco-car. Yet with the exception of the fuel cell and sportscar-style double-wishbone fully independent suspension at all four corners, under the skin Clarity is recognisably a conventional front-wheel-drive electric vehicle. Sure, it's one of the first to put a lithium ion battery on the road (Benz's S 400 Hybrid also features a LiOn battery), but even modest EVs share its basic layout.


Like most battery electric vehicles and the current hybrid fashionistas, the Clarity features regenerative braking and electric power steering, air-conditioning and ancillaries.


Unlike current eco-cars, however, it drives for all intents and purposes like a 'normal' car and even features luxury accoutrements such as adaptive cruise control, heated and cooled seats, up to date active safety and collision mitigation technologies.


It's the heart of the Clarity that makes it so very different, however. Honda's V Flow FC Stack produces 100kW of electrical power (enough to power 20 homes, says Honda) via a chemical reaction between hydrogen, atmospheric oxygen and chemical elements contained with the 'mechanicals' of the cell. There are no moving parts inside it, but it does require a compressor to inject air into the cell stack, as well as cooling and other infrastructure.


Around the size of a briefcase and weighing just 70kg, the V Flow FC Stack in Clarity was developed in 2006. Just seven years earlier the then state-of-the-art stack weighed 202kg, was two and a half times the size and produced only 60kW. It's likely Honda already has a cell in the wings that makes the V Flow obsolete.


The fuel cell is housed in the centre spine of the vehicle under a rather conventional centre console. Only the lack of rear aircon ducting and a distinct lack of storage in the console are giveaways to its real purpose.


From the cell, electricity is used or stored in the FCX's lithium ion battery stack located under the rear seat. Underway, power is fed direct from the fuel cell to the elegantly simple co-axial electric motor, gearbox and differential unit driving the front wheels.


Clarity's fuel tank holds about 4kg of gaseous hydrogen compressed at 5000psi. The combination carbon-fibre and alloy tank features a single integrated in-tank shut-off valve, regulator and pressure sensor. Honda says bleed off from the tank is non-existent. This is in contrast to GM, which says its fuel cell cars can lose a significant percentage of their hydrogen fuel to the atmosphere each day. It's worth noting that Honda's hydrogen storage system operates at half the pressure of the GM set-up.


In the USA currently, hydrogen is sold at approximately 64 refuelling stations. In the Los Angeles area, around which the US Clarity roll out is centred, there are three mainstream outlets where the fuel is dispensed via a petrol or LPG-style bowser and is priced at $US5.00/kg. The energy equivalency and currency conversation equates to just over $A0.70/litre. The filling process is little different from the cabbie's favourite.


As for the argument on whether hydrogen can easily be produced with low carbon impact, we'll side-step it for the moment. It's interesting to note, however, that Honda has already developed a solar/natural gas home energy station that produces both household electricity and gaseous hydrogen for the family car.


But enough of the tech stuff... What's it like to drive?


In two words -- surprisingly conventional...


Start-up requires the turn of a key and a push of a button and in seconds you're ready to drive. Snick a Prius-style shift-by-wire instrument panel mounted gearlever into drive or reverse and you're away.


There's no engine noise per se, but there are sounds that intrude into the peacefulness of the cabin. The air compressor is probably the loudest but it's far from vocal. Underway there's a slight whine from the electric drivetrain but it's not as George Jetson as, say, the Tesla Roadster we drove earlier this year.


If there's one area where we'd criticise the FCX it's this -- the 'soundtrack' of any car is important. We'd love to see Honda set the standard here -- it'd be fitting, given the pleasure the company's screaming VTEC fours have delivered over the years.


Acceleration from rest is quite sprightly -- quick enough to easily cope with the cut and thrust of Aussie traffic. A long 'throttle' throw means you have to seriously bend the ankle to get full drive.


When it comes to corners, the FCX is no slouch thanks to better than average weight distribution, excellent wheel control thanks to the double wishbone setup, and strong torque. The steering is very light and less than involving but in these days of electrically-assisted power steering, that can be cured with a software change. Having driven the Clarity, it's not hard to envisage a fuel cell Honda sportscar down the track.


Day to day driving is achieved via a blend of battery and direct cell electrical power automatically metered by the car's electronics. The Clarity features a multi-function colour-based energy flow instrumentation system that shows the distribution of this blend. From rest there's a substantial amount of extra oomph delivered by the battery; then, as speeds rise, the stack takes over.


Battery and hydrogen fuel level meters are incorporated into the same digital display, as well as estimated range. Colour changes indicate whether the driver is being responsible with his or her hydrogen. Sometimes we weren't.


Civic drivers would recognize the IP layout, but the centre console with its satnav display, high-end audio and HVAC controls, including those for the heated and cooled front seats, is more high-end than hatch.


Honda Bio Fabric is used to trim the cabin. Manufactured from fermented corn cellulose, it's attractive, but says Honda America insiders, not too stain resistant. Leather and climate-friendly surfaces, like the latest bamboo laminates, would add another degree of luxury to the car, in our estimation. As it is, the car is fully finished but not to the standard you expect in a Benz, Beemer or indeed, Legend.


Somehow, however, criticising the cabin seems churlish in the face of the technical achievement that is the FCX Clarity. It may still be out of the ball park in terms of cost -- at a rumoured 'true' pricetag of around $US300,000 a pop -- but Clarity is proof that fuel cell technology is car-ready today.


With improved cells and a tighter control on costs, we're absolutely certain hydrogen-powered FCEVs will one day make up a significant part of the automotive spectrum.


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