Feature
Honda FCX Concept
The fuel-cell-powered future is closer than you think.
You'll see Honda's FCX Concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show next week, but we've already driven it right here in California. Honda invited us to Laguna Seca raceway to hot-lap the fuel-cell concept car-cum-prototype, first shown at the 2005 Tokyo auto show, to show off how far the technology has progressed, and how close it is to becoming a production reality. Be assured that the gleaming FCX Concept at the L.A. Auto Show is not just a carpet-crushing showcar.
There are only two running FCX Concepts in existence right now, but their basic powertrain hardware and four-door sedan layout will be put into customers' hands in 2008. This offering will represent the second fuel-cell vehicle Honda has produced, the first being the FCX introduced in 2002, of which only 15 ply the streets.
We tested the first-generation FCX and found it to be a perfectly acceptable commuter car that looks as sexy as a nerd wearing a tinfoil hat. Not so with the FCX Concept. With stunning curves flowing over an interior more spacious than a present-day Accord, the FCX Concept is a prelude (sorry, couldn't resist) of things to come. While it hints at the configuration of the future model, the FCX Concept is a demonstrator for an all-new fuel-cell powertrain.
It's the electrons, stupid
First, some review. Simply put, a fuel cell is battery that can be continually replenished with hydrogen. The fuel cell stack takes in the hydrogen, tickles its electrons away and sends them off to boot camp in an electric motor. Once the electrons have produced useful work as electricity, they are then reunited with the leftover portion of the hydrogen atom, married to oxygen and form water. They then live a life of yard work, screaming kids and TV sitcoms.
Two tanks, filled with hydrogen compressed to 5,000 psi, are located between its rear wheels, giving the FCX Concept a reported driving range of about 350 miles. Like all things mileage-related, range will vary with driving style, ambient temperature and planetary alignment, but it's still a healthy jump over the 210-mile range of the current FCX. The latest stack — designed and manufactured by Honda — can be started in minus-20-degrees-Fahrenheit weather conditions.
Flooring the "gas" pedal results in instantaneous and seamless thrust, giving the FCX Concept noticeably more grunt than the current FCX. The FCX Concept pulls itself forward in eerie silence, with just a whine from the screw-type compressor required to pressurize the stack with oxygen. In fact, the entire driving experience is similarly uneventful, which demonstrates just how significant an accomplishment the FCX Concept is. This is a car that, with only refueling as a notable exception, compromises little to nothing of what consumers have grown to expect from modern cars, yet does it producing only water vapor from the tailpipe.
The juice pedal
Its electric motor is rated at 127 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque, allowing the FCX Concept to reach a top speed of 100 mph. Since much of this torque is available at very low speeds and is assisted by a lithium-ion battery, acceleration from a standstill is respectably brisk. On the track, the car reached speeds approaching 80 mph in the space of 0.3 mile along Laguna's main straight, which has a slight rise before Turn One. There was room to go faster, but since it wasn't our multimillion-dollar prototype, we took it easy.
Thanks to a redesigned gearbox and a new vertical-flow fuel-cell stack the size of a desktop computer, the entire powertrain of the FCX Concept weighs nearly 400 pounds less than that of the current FCX, and occupies 40 percent less volume. As a result, the fuel-cell stack now sits conveniently at armrest height between the front seats, rather than under the floor. This newfound packaging flexibility allowed Honda to situate the passengers lower in the vehicle and keep most of the heavy powertrain bits within the wheelbase, which pays dividends in handling.
Dynamically, the FCX Concept is nimbler and more effortless through Laguna's Turn Two than its roughly 3,700-pound weight would suggest. Double wishbones in front and a multilink rear were developed specifically for the FCX Concept, but no word on whether this configuration will appear on the production car. Let's just hope that the final product feels as balanced and devoid of inertia as this prototype.
It's great, but…
When it comes to fuel-cell vehicles, the well-known elephant in the room is refueling. Today, refueling a car with hydrogen is a daunting task due to the paucity of consumer-accessible stations that distribute the stuff. It will be decades until a widespread infrastructure is in place, so Honda plans to address this obstacle a few different ways.
Currently in development is a third-generation Honda Home Energy Station that can extract hydrogen from a home's natural gas supply, and with a built-in fuel cell generate up to 5 kilowatts of electrical power and supply hot water. The downside here is that carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released when natural gas is reformed to produce hydrogen. Honda is quick to point out that it's less CO2 than what a comparable gasoline-powered car would produce, and a zero-carbon technology based on low-cost solar cells is also under development.
Fill 'er up
It's still too early to say whether either of these refueling technologies will be ready, or how much they will cost, by the time the production version of the FCX Concept is rolled out. This is truly the critical hurdle, considering that our experiences with the FCX and now the FCX Concept demonstrate that there's no question the vehicles themselves are up to snuff. Honda appears to be serious about producing them in significant volumes — the stack incorporates design features to make it suitable for volume manufacture, and Ben Knight, vice president of the America-based arm of Honda R&D considers "fuel cells as a long-term investment" for Honda.
No marketing plans or price have been announced, but expect a regional rollout at first, with a lease price lower than the $500/month of the current FCX. Assuming that the potential of the FCX Concept is realized in production guise and there's a reasonable way to feed it hydrogen, Honda will have an accomplishment of Prius-dwarfing proportions on its hands.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
There are only two running FCX Concepts in existence right now, but their basic powertrain hardware and four-door sedan layout will be put into customers' hands in 2008. This offering will represent the second fuel-cell vehicle Honda has produced, the first being the FCX introduced in 2002, of which only 15 ply the streets.
We tested the first-generation FCX and found it to be a perfectly acceptable commuter car that looks as sexy as a nerd wearing a tinfoil hat. Not so with the FCX Concept. With stunning curves flowing over an interior more spacious than a present-day Accord, the FCX Concept is a prelude (sorry, couldn't resist) of things to come. While it hints at the configuration of the future model, the FCX Concept is a demonstrator for an all-new fuel-cell powertrain.
It's the electrons, stupid
First, some review. Simply put, a fuel cell is battery that can be continually replenished with hydrogen. The fuel cell stack takes in the hydrogen, tickles its electrons away and sends them off to boot camp in an electric motor. Once the electrons have produced useful work as electricity, they are then reunited with the leftover portion of the hydrogen atom, married to oxygen and form water. They then live a life of yard work, screaming kids and TV sitcoms.
Two tanks, filled with hydrogen compressed to 5,000 psi, are located between its rear wheels, giving the FCX Concept a reported driving range of about 350 miles. Like all things mileage-related, range will vary with driving style, ambient temperature and planetary alignment, but it's still a healthy jump over the 210-mile range of the current FCX. The latest stack — designed and manufactured by Honda — can be started in minus-20-degrees-Fahrenheit weather conditions.
Flooring the "gas" pedal results in instantaneous and seamless thrust, giving the FCX Concept noticeably more grunt than the current FCX. The FCX Concept pulls itself forward in eerie silence, with just a whine from the screw-type compressor required to pressurize the stack with oxygen. In fact, the entire driving experience is similarly uneventful, which demonstrates just how significant an accomplishment the FCX Concept is. This is a car that, with only refueling as a notable exception, compromises little to nothing of what consumers have grown to expect from modern cars, yet does it producing only water vapor from the tailpipe.
The juice pedal
Its electric motor is rated at 127 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque, allowing the FCX Concept to reach a top speed of 100 mph. Since much of this torque is available at very low speeds and is assisted by a lithium-ion battery, acceleration from a standstill is respectably brisk. On the track, the car reached speeds approaching 80 mph in the space of 0.3 mile along Laguna's main straight, which has a slight rise before Turn One. There was room to go faster, but since it wasn't our multimillion-dollar prototype, we took it easy.
Thanks to a redesigned gearbox and a new vertical-flow fuel-cell stack the size of a desktop computer, the entire powertrain of the FCX Concept weighs nearly 400 pounds less than that of the current FCX, and occupies 40 percent less volume. As a result, the fuel-cell stack now sits conveniently at armrest height between the front seats, rather than under the floor. This newfound packaging flexibility allowed Honda to situate the passengers lower in the vehicle and keep most of the heavy powertrain bits within the wheelbase, which pays dividends in handling.
Dynamically, the FCX Concept is nimbler and more effortless through Laguna's Turn Two than its roughly 3,700-pound weight would suggest. Double wishbones in front and a multilink rear were developed specifically for the FCX Concept, but no word on whether this configuration will appear on the production car. Let's just hope that the final product feels as balanced and devoid of inertia as this prototype.
It's great, but…
When it comes to fuel-cell vehicles, the well-known elephant in the room is refueling. Today, refueling a car with hydrogen is a daunting task due to the paucity of consumer-accessible stations that distribute the stuff. It will be decades until a widespread infrastructure is in place, so Honda plans to address this obstacle a few different ways.
Currently in development is a third-generation Honda Home Energy Station that can extract hydrogen from a home's natural gas supply, and with a built-in fuel cell generate up to 5 kilowatts of electrical power and supply hot water. The downside here is that carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released when natural gas is reformed to produce hydrogen. Honda is quick to point out that it's less CO2 than what a comparable gasoline-powered car would produce, and a zero-carbon technology based on low-cost solar cells is also under development.
Fill 'er up
It's still too early to say whether either of these refueling technologies will be ready, or how much they will cost, by the time the production version of the FCX Concept is rolled out. This is truly the critical hurdle, considering that our experiences with the FCX and now the FCX Concept demonstrate that there's no question the vehicles themselves are up to snuff. Honda appears to be serious about producing them in significant volumes — the stack incorporates design features to make it suitable for volume manufacture, and Ben Knight, vice president of the America-based arm of Honda R&D considers "fuel cells as a long-term investment" for Honda.
No marketing plans or price have been announced, but expect a regional rollout at first, with a lease price lower than the $500/month of the current FCX. Assuming that the potential of the FCX Concept is realized in production guise and there's a reasonable way to feed it hydrogen, Honda will have an accomplishment of Prius-dwarfing proportions on its hands.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
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