Honda at NAIAS: Visionary or confused about fuel cell vehicles?

The Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle next to the Home Fueling Station

When it comes to hybrid cars, currently, there are just two players: Toyota and Honda. Yesterday, I covered my irrational disappointment with Toyota (more). Today, I'm going to cover my disappointment with Honda.

Unlike Toyota, Honda has nothing to lose and everything to gain when it comes to hybrids, and Honda plans to soon challenge the Toyota Prius with a new hybrid. So, was this new hybrid at NAIAS? No. Instead Honda's loud and clear message was about fuel cell vehicles. Read more....

Hybrid Notes & Day 1 of NAIAS

Honda is showing the Sequel Fuel cell vehicle and not much else

Honda has 4 cars at the Detroit Show and debuted a new Honda Pilot. I thought maybe we'd get a look at one of the new Honda hybrid vehicles, but no such luck. Honda's section at the show is all about the Honda Clarity Fuel cell vehicle. I'm a bit shocked. Honda's display in LA seemed bigger.

Really, there were no major hybrid announcements today by any automakers. There should be a couple tomorrow.

Honda focused on fuel cell vehicles not electric vehicles

A Honda fuel cell vehicle filling up at a solar-hydrogen station

Yesterday, President Takeo Fukui told Jiji Press that Honda was going to focus on fuel cell vehicles instead of electric vehicles because "Honda has no plan to develop automobiles that can be used only in limited areas."

Citing overseas markets, short travel distance and recharging times Honda does not believe that short range electric vehicles provide an attractive solution worldwide.

Within 10 years Honda believes it could be mass-producing fuel cell vehicles, once an infrastructure for hydrogen fueling stations is resolved. To address that problem, Honda is focusing on home fueling stations that convert natural gas into hydrogen.

Recently, Honda showed off the second generation Honda Clarity FCX at the LA Auto Show, and the company plans to begin leasing a limited number of these fuel cell vehicles in 2008.

Why the Chevy Volt will succeed

It really is more than just a hype machine!

I'm not sure that there has ever been a concept vehicle that has resulted in more PR and hype than GM's Chevy Volt plug-in.

For instance, despite the fact that GM received the first and only lithium battery pack for the Chevy Volt just a few weeks ago, David Kiley of Business Week has already claimed that the Volt is "miles ahead" of Toyota and Honda. Yet, today there isn't one single Volt prototype that utilizes ANY of the potential Volt battery packs. There is still the potential - which will only be found in real world testing - that the battery packs currently planned just won't work.

Crazy!

But there is a change brewing in the world and I've been in a crazy sort of a mood since the LA Auto Show. Actually this current streak of insanity dates back a few weeks before the LA Show. That's when my belief in the automotive revolution changed, and I've since been reevaluating all my beliefs. Finish.....

What's up with Honda's Clarity Fuel Cell PR Campaign?

Still years away from reality?

I'm not a big channel surfer when it comes to TV. In fact, I'm a pretty boring TV watcher, although I do watch a ton of TV. All day long, CNBC is on in the background, and numerous times per day, everyday, I see Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle commercials.

What's the deal, yo?

I love this car - it won my pick for the Best of the LA Auto Show. Still, Honda is only going to lease, at best, a few hundred of these vehicles in the next few years (that is just an educated guess). So, why so much PR?

Is Honda seeking a halo effect, much like the Prius brought to Toyota? Or, is this Honda's challenge to GM's Chevy Volt? Or, is Honda simply trying to create momentum for the creation of the hydrogen highway? Maybe it's all of the above?

Is this commercial only being shown in the LA area - the only area where you will be able to lease a Clarity? I'm a little unclear, but it seems a shockingly aggressive campaign.

Hydrogen Economy: Where's the buzz?

FCV's: Too much of a threat to the military-industrial Iron Triangle?

Fuel cell vehicles, such as the Chevy Equinox FCV, Honda FCX Clarity, and Toyota FCHV, captured a pretty big chunk of the spotlight at the LA Auto Show this year, but nobody really seemed to care.

Sure, fuel cell vehicles are expensive and there isn't yet a hydrogen infrastructure. In reality it would take 10's of billions dollars to kick start the hydrogen economy and to create enough tax incentives to make fuel cell vehicles affordable for consumers.

With such high costs, why not just focus on plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles anyway, the consensus seems to be saying these days.

How sad. How embarrassing for a country that used to be the world's leading auto manufacturer and technological leader. Does America have any future beyond consumption? Finish....

Did US automakers cry wolf on the hydrogen highway

Hyundai's Bibendum winning FCEV

There is a rumor in the automotive world that the US auto industry and its lobbyists have long convinced the US Congress and multiple executive branches that CAFE was an inhibitor to fuel cell vehicles and the hydrogen economy. This lobbying effort, the rumor claims, has gone on for decades, although it has weakened since 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, etc.

I don't know whether the rumor is real or not, but I've heard it many times from many different sources.

The real point, however, is that in many circles, such as those rounded out by environmentalists and energy security hawks, the hydrogen economy is now believed to be fiction, something that is always a decade or two away from reality - something I have also believed, until recently. Finish.....

Honda's visionary approach to fuel cell vehicles?

The key to Honda's green future?

Honda is a pretty cool company. Not only does Honda make some of the most fuel efficient vehicles - fleet wide - in the industry, they also make some pretty cool jet airplanes. Even more interesting, however, Honda now makes next generation solar cells.

Why would an automaker make solar cells?

I'm sure there are many reasons that Honda might make solar cells, but one interesting reason showed up at the LA Auto Show. (Finish)

Lease a Honda Fuel Cell Vehicle

Lease one in the Summer of 2008

Back in January at NAIAS, the Honda FCX fuel cell vehicle was one of the hottest-looking vehicles at Detroit's Auto Show. At that time, however, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle just seemed too far into the future for me.

At this year's LA Auto Show, Honda took a big step into the future announcing that the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle will be offered for lease in the summer of 2008. For $600.00 per month - including maintenance and collision insurance - customers will be able to lease a an FCX Clarity for a term of 3 years

To start, you'll probably have to live in the greater Los Angeles ares, where hydrogen and fuel cell servicing facilities exist. Unfortunately, until the hydrogen highway is extended, fuel cell vehicles will be very limited.

Is there a future for the Honda FCX?

Did Honda steal a few design cues from the Prius?

I believe Honda has the best hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle in the world. Of course, as I was told by a Honda spokesperson, "You don't win any awards for being first to half way there."

As remarkable as the fully-functional Honda FCX Concept vehicle is, I wonder whether it really has any future. Aside from the extremely high cost of the vehicle, where is an owner going to fill up? There are not even 50 hydrogen pumps in the entire United States.

Will this force Honda to develop a new platform, similar to Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive or GM's new E-Flex Drive, which provide an adaptable, evolutionary path to fuel cells? Are plug-in hybrids the next big step to fuel cell vehicles?

Also, check out the front end of the FCX - looks eerily like the Prius.