Honda FCV Hydrogen Car Unveiled; Provides Electricity In Times of Disaster

Honda, the Japanese automajor, yesterday unveiled an all-new fuel-cell vehicle - the FCV Concept. However, the production model of the vehicle will go on sale by the end of March 2016. For people not in the know, Honda and Toyota formed an alliance backed by the Japanese government to work on fuel cell technology. Toyota, will start retailing its FCV sedan - the Mirai - from December 15, 2014 in Japan.

Honda has also unveiled a backup power unit - Honda Power Exporter - which when combined with the FCV can function as a small-sized mobile power plant that generates and provides electricity to the community in times of disaster or other events. The device underwent a large number of verification tests with the FCX clarity, claims Honda.

In addition to the FCV and external power feeding device, Honda will further promote the application of the Smart Hydrogen Station (SHS) - a packaged hydrogen station unit that adopts Honda's original high-differential-pressure electrolyser.

"In this way, Honda will work toward the forthcoming hydrogen society under three key concepts - 'generate', 'use' and 'get connected' - and continues to pursue a CO2 -free society.", says Honda.

Honda believes that hydrogen is a high-potential, next-generation energy carrier because of the fact that hydrogen can be generated from various energy sources and is easily transportable and storable. Honda has been working on the FCVs since the late 1980s. Just so you know, The FCV uses electricity generated through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen as a power source for the motor.

The FCV concept car will become a basis for Honda's next-generation FCV, a successor model to the FCX Clarity, with which Honda aims to achive a further improvement in performance and a reduction in cost. The new fuel-cell stack installed in the concept car is claimed to be 33% smaller than the previous fuel-cell stack and yet produces a maximum power output of 134bhp and output density as high as 4.16bhp/l, improving the overall performance by around 60% compared to the previous fuel-cell stack version.

Upon its launch Honda's new-gen FCV will become the world's first FCV sedan with entire powertrain, including the downsized fuel-cell stack, consolidated under the hood of a sedan-type vehicle, clais Honda. The vehicle will accomodate five adults comfortably. Equipped with a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, the FCV will provide a crusing range of more than 700Kms. The tank can be refilled in approximately 3 minutes.