Political Equinox

As the Ethonol fad continues to be the center of buzz in environmental friendly fuels, one car company is already jumping past the biofuel faze. In just a few months, Tokyo based Honda will introduce the all-new FCX Clarity Advanced Fuel Cell Vehicle. Honda touts the FCX Clarity as “a next generation, zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the entirely-new Honda V Flow fuel cell platform.”

Honda plans to release the car this summer on a limited basis to customers in Southern California. While the company will continue to tweak the final details, preliminary reports indicate the company plans to offer a three-year lease term with a hefty price tag of $600 each month. Certainly, the car comes with the price tag of a luxury item – but with time producting costs should fall bringing prices down.

What makes it go?

The vehicle combines a compact and efficient lithium ion batter pack and a single hydrogen storage tank in order to power the electric engine. The car†utilizes†oxygen from the atmosphere and combines it with hydrogen fuel cells in the fuel stack. The chemical energy from this reaction is converted into electric power for the engine. The ion battery pack also stores energy captured from braking and†deceleration†that supplements the fuel cell.

And finally, the car does have one emission: water.

So what’s the big deal?

While going green is awesome, is it worth the improvement to pay the hefty price tag. Probably not initially, but let me break things down for you as to why this car matters. The all-new Honda FCX Clarity travels the equivalent of 68 miles per gallon.

While the rest of the word is hipping itself up on cards that tout 30mpg or ethanol fuel, Honda is already moving to the next generation of automobile power – hydrogen.

We should be spending more time researching the future of energy rather than spending time working on these soon-to-be history fuels.