Hitting the roads this summer in Southern California will be Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle the FCX Clarity . The Clarity is the auto industry’s first fuel cell vehicle intended for customers and available for lease. So far Honda has received around 20,000 emails from people interested in leasing the Clarity. However due to the limited number of hydrogen refueling stations throughout the United States, qualifying candidates must reside in the Southern California city of Torrance, Santa Monica, or Irvine. Honda has been filtering through the emails, and has narrowed down the potential candidates to around 500 based on their geography. They are actively contacting these candidates to confirm interest.

 

Honda still won’t comment on the volume they plan on rolling out to consumers, but have said they would adjust the volume as needed within the 3 year window of the lease. So as more hydrogen refueling stations become available, Honda will make more vehicles for the public to lease. It's worth mentioning that Honda is developing a home refueling system called The Home Energy Station. It generates hydrogen from natural gas, and provides heat and electricity to your home through fuel cell cogeneration as well as provides the hydrogen for your car. Honda claims that a household using the Home Energy Station would produce 30% less C02 emissions than an average household using a gas powered car and commerical electricity.

 

The Clarity will be leased for 3 years at $600 a month, which includes all maintenance and insurance. Not included in the lease is the hydrogen, which will cost roughly $5/kg (a kg of hydrogen is equivalent to a gallon of gas). The FCX Clarity can hold 4 kg of hydrogen which will get you approximately 270 miles of zero emission driving. A conventional gasoline powered car would need to get around 68 mpg to match that efficiency, plus it wouldn’t be emission free.