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Meet the car of the future -- at least, the future according to Honda. The 2009 Honda FCX Clarity is the first dedicated hydrogen fuel cell powered car to go into mass production, although it's a pretty small mass. About 200 people -- mostly Southern Californians -- will be given the chance to lease the Honda FCX Clarity (3 years, $600/month, no down payment, no mileage limit, all maintenance included), and Honda gave me the chance to step into their shoes for a week. What was it like? Read on.
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First Glance: Miraculous and mundane
For my first couple of days as a (temporary) hydrogen-car driver, I cruised around smug in the knowledge that I was piloting the car of the future, powered by a black box that uses hyperpolatic membranes and electromimeographic fomenture to produce electricity from hydrogen. (I may have some of the terminology wrong; I sort of zoned out during that part of the lecture.) When I ran low on fuel -- which actually happened pretty often -- I fueled up at a station that produced hydrogen on-site using tap water and electricity. Eat your heart out, Prius drivers, I thought to myself, you petroleum-swilling, pollution-spewing, ice-cap-melting troglodytes.
But the novelty quickly passed, and I soon settled into the same form of motoring monotony experienced by millions of mid-size sedan drivers every day. Paneogeic adherence or no paneogeic adherence, driving a Honda FCX Clarity is a lot like driving a Honda Accord, albeit with a bigger back seat, a smaller trunk, and no Earth-killing crapola coming out of the tailpipe.
The FCX Clarity doesn't even look all that different from a regular car. Freed from the constraints of designing around a bulky internal-combustion engine, the FCX Clarity's designers were free to re-invent. They put the electric motor and controller under the hood, the desktop-PC-sized fuel cell stack in the middle, and the cylindrical fuel tank in back. The result? A car that looks a bit like a cross between a Toyota Prius and a Dodge Intrepid -- handsome, athletic, and futuristic, but without the Prius' inherent geekiness.
In the Driver's Seat: Sci-fi soundtrack
The FCX Clarity's cabin is actually fairly conventional, complete with fake wood trim (in the car of the future? Really, Honda?) and a dashboard that will look remotely familiar to anyone who's driven a late-model Civic. Honda touts the fact that the seats are upholsted in eco-friendly plant-based fabric. (Isn't cotton a plant-based fabric?)
My biggest complaints are pretty small: The stereo, climate and navigation controls have too many buttons (typical Honda); the fuel cell stack, located between the front seats, throws off heat when the car is run hard; and at night I found my eyes tended to focus on the thin metal defroster coils that run through the windshield rather than the road ahead. Aside from that, the Accord -- sorry, the FCX Clarity -- is spacious, comfy, and smoother than any gasoline car I've ever driven.
So how exactly does one drive the FCX Clarity? It's a lot like a regular car: Insert and turn the key, step on the brake and push the Power button. Since there's no engine, there's no vibration, just a faint moan as the fuel cell stack starts, um, stacking fuel cells. The dash lights do a digital dance and within five seconds -- less if the car is warm -- the mini-LCD screen proclaims "READY TO DRIVE." Pull the stubby shift lever down, out, and down to select Drive, and away you go in a roar of silence. The FCX Clarity sounds pretty much like the cars of the future you see in sci-fi movies, with a faint jet-like whine from the electric motor and a muted wail that rises in pitch as you demand more power from the fuel cell stack.
On the Road: The Idiot's Guide to Fuel Cell Cars
How It Works, Short Version: The fuel cell stack converts hydrogen to electricity and water. The water goes out the tailpipe and the electricity powers a motor that drives the front wheels. (Long version here.) Like a hybrid, the FCX has a battery that charges as the car slows down and provides extra power for acceleration. Since the battery and the fuel cell power the same motor, the transition between them is seamless. The Clarity's digital tachometer (which measures kilowatts rather than RPM) displays green for battery power and blue for fuel cell power. It's fun to watch the ratio of battery power to hydrogen power change as you accelerate -- fun, that is, until you nearly rear-end a Toyota. Not that that happened to me.
The beauty of an electric motor is that it can produce maximum torque no matter how fast it's spinning, even if it isn't. The FCX Clarity goes like... maybe not a scared rabbit, but at least one that's extremely agitated. Basically, it feels like a four-cylinder (gasoline) Accord. It handles like one, too -- tight and nimble with great steering, but the smooth, silent power and lack of guilt make it a lot more fun to drive.
Hydrogen fuel economy is measured in miles per kilogram; I averaged 55 mi/kg. The tank's 4.1 kg capacity gives a real-world range of about 220 miles. Hydrogen costs $5 per kg, which in gasoline terms is equivalent to... oh, hell, I don't know. All I know is that the 15 MPG Cadillac CTS-V I drove that same week had about the same range as the FCX, but I only had to drive two blocks to gas up the Caddy, versus 12 miles for the Honda.
Journey's End: Is this really the car of the future?
A lot of the people who asked about the FCX Clarity -- and brother, there were a lot -- had questions like "What happens if the hydrogen blows up?" (to which I was tempted to answer, "Then my troubles are over, aren't they?") Instead, I explained that hydrogen tanks are -- by car-crash standards, at least -- pretty much indestructible. If you read up on the subject, you'll find that hydrogen is arguably safer than gasoline. Actually, gasoline is pretty dangerous and scary stuff, which is why I don't recommend reading up on the subject.
Is the FCX Clarity really the car of the future? Beats me. I'm told the best way to produce hydrogen is to extract it from natural gas or water, the latter using copious amounts of electricity (which in many parts of the country, including California, is still made by burning coal). Were I a deeper, smarter man, I'd wonder if it wouldn't be more efficient to simply use electricity or natural gas to power our cars directly. Luckily I'm not that deep. Or smart.
I do know that the technology works, and I think people will accept it. Aside from the current lack of range and infrastructure -- I visited the gas station every day or two, which accounted for about 100 of the 600 or so miles I put on the FCX Clarity -- living with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is just like living with a regular car. And I think that's exactly what Honda was going for.
Now if only Honda can design a fuel cell car that sounds like a Mercedes SL63 AMG. Maybe if they extrude-honed the grimetic focoanalyzer... -- Aaron Gold
