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Impressive new Concept fuels Honda’s green revolution
If you had no idea what powered Honda’s FCX Concept, it would still be a great car. Drive it under the illusion that a super-quiet diesel or petrol engine was tucked under the bonnet and you could not help but be impressed. When you realise it runs on electricity generated by its oxygen and compressed hydrogen fuel cell, and that the only emission is water, the car becomes all the more significant.
“It is a matter of when, not if, fuel cell cars come to the UK,” a Honda spokesman said. “We have experimented with other technologies including hybrid cars and that only convinced us that ultimately hydrogen fuel cells are the long-term solution.”
The Japanese company is so committed to fuel cell technology that it expects to be building 400,000 such cars a year by 2020. The FCX Concept is almost identical (the bumpers will change) to the version that will go on sale in Japan and America next year. This is a four-door saloon with a hint of rakish Aston Martin styling at the back, a glimpse of Lamborghini in the short, blunt nose, all part of a sleek, smooth and purposeful package.
Inside, the dashboard is clean and uncluttered, with very good visibility. The light tan of the upholstery and roof linings gives an airy feel. For devoted environmentalists, the fact that the roof, door and boot linings, and carpets and seat upholstery are made from processed corn only adds to the car’s “green” attributes.
Despite the low roofline, there is plenty of head and legroom in the front and rear seats for someone over 6ft 4in. On a private, new test track on the Swedish island of Gotland, the car handled well, even if there was a bit of tyre squeal.
The car is not perfect, however. Boot space is limited because the hydrogen tank takes up a lot of space and it is difficult to get a real feel for the car’s performance as it makes virtually no noise. It chirrups, beeps and twitters at you, like a cross between a Star Wars robot and a spin-dryer at full chat, idiosyncrasies that arise because of the car’s power source.
There are only two FCX cars in the world at present, which makes the car I drove worth around £5 million given Honda’s hefty investment in its technology. The real beauty of the FCX, though, is that, if you had no idea what was powering it, it would still be a good car. This is the feat motor manufacturers are going to have to pull off if they are to convince motorists to buy cars that do not pollute.
Sachito Fujimoto, the Honda senior chief engineer, said: “This is not just a show car. This car will be on the road very soon. The fuel cell stack combines oxygen from the atmosphere, and compressed hydrogen stored in a pressurised tank in the boot, in the fuel cell, which then undergoes a chemical reaction to produce the electricity which drives the car’s electric motors.”
Acceleration is on a par with a 2.4 litre petrol saloon, except that maximum torque is instant and does not build up as the revs rise, as with a petrol and diesel. Full power is there the moment you press the accelerator.
To turn the car on, you pull forward a switch to the right of the steering wheel. That’s it. The car is silent, but the central display in front of you tells you that the car is ready. Press the accelerator and as you move forward a whine, more a whistle, builds up, with a few beeps. The main impression, though, is of rapid progress achieved in a quiet, refined car.
As for supplies of compressed hydrogen, Honda is confident that energy companies will respond to demand and establish refuelling stations capable of filling fuel cell cars with pressured hydrogen. If they do not, Honda can always sell owners its own Home Energy Station, which extracts hydrogen from natural gas and then pressurises it for use in the car.
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