Late last year, Honda had shown its FCV fuel cell vehicle concept and this year, the company has realised that step and showcased the production version of the car. It is also set to make a full fledged debut at the Tokyo Motor Show this year.
Honda has already released the popular FXC Clarity family car and the FCV is an attempt to follow in its footsteps. The company has yet to announce the engine that will be used on the vehicle, but it is likely that it will have a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank that would allow as much as 700km in terms of driving range. It is also likely to be easy to refuel and follow the Toyota Mirai on those lines. In fact Honda is working towards making refuelling as simple as the petrol and diesel refuelling today and has begun efforts to make sure that they can increase the reach of the vehicle.
In comparison to the FCX, Honda has made some significant headway in terms of both performance improvements as well as cost reduction. The fuel cell stack is to be 33 per cent smaller and even then, Honda claims that they have managed to better performance by as much as 60 per cent.
The Honda FCV is likely to hit stores end of March 2016 and sales will begin from Japan. This will be followed by commercial launches in both the US and Europe.