Autoblog

In a recent interview, Honda President Takeo Fukui said that he fully expects to offer a fuel-cell Honda by 2018. Nissan has already gone on record as saying they plan to have a fuel-cell vehicle on the road by the early 2010s. So that might seem like a long way off, especially considering the FCX Concept that AB Green drove will be doing real world testing by 2008, but production and storage of hydrogen are still huge obstacles to making fuel-cell vehicles practical. The Kyodo News agency also said Fukui implied that Honda's research showed that the price would have to be less than about 10 million yen ($84,000) to make it palatable to buyers. Well, we'd have to agree with that, but might add that it would have to be WAY less than that figure.

[Source: Detroit News]

This year's Los Angeles auto show will see the debut of Honda's third-generation fuel-cell powertrain, ensconced in its FCX cab-forward concept car (pictured), which debuted at last year's Tokyo Motor Show.

The FCX five-passenger sedan, not to be confused with the small FCX fuel-cell hatchback currently being road-tested in California and other states, will go into production "within three years" according to Honda. A system that Honda dubs the "vertical gas flow" fuel cell stack delivers more power in less space, and is compact enough to fit into the sedan's center tunnel.

Real-world testing of the FCX hatchback, coupled with the company's efforts to simplify infrastructure technology for hydrogen refueling (including its Home Energy Station), has probably put Honda well in the lead in the race to roll out the world's first production hydrogen-fueled car.

[Sources: Inside Line, Honda]