Honda revealed the new Clarity Fuel Cell at last year's Tokyo Motor Show and began sales in Japan on March 10, delivering the very first one to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry later that month. It plans to launch the model in select UK, Denmark and California markets later this year. The car's 174-hp motor is capable of pushing it up to around 466 miles (750 km) on the Japanese JC08 drive cycle (estimated 300-mile+ US EPA rating) per hydrogen fill-up thanks to its new power-dense fuel cell stack. Refueling takes three to five minutes, according to Honda.
While intriguing from a technological standpoint, fuel cell cars are still a young technology with lack of an accompanying hydrogen fueling infrastructure, so they're not exactly a large-volume cash cow for auto manufacturers. To give the Clarity more legs, Honda will launch the electric and plug-in hybrid versions in the US in 2017. The expansion will also give Honda more flexibility in responding to any changes in the market or infrastructure, the automaker explains.
Honda has had EV versions of some of its models for a few years now, but they haven't been widely available. "Select markets" makes it sound like that's not going to change with these models.
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printed from SoylentNews, Honda to Offer Clarity in Fuel Cell, Electric and Hybrid Models on 2023-06-25 16:50:38