2007 L.A. Auto Show: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity
Honda will allow its dealers to lease this production FCX fuel cell vehicle to customers in Southern California starting next summer. The price is around $600 per month and the lease runs for three years. Insurance and maintenance are included in that monthly figure.
The production FCX carries hydrogen in a fuel cell between the front seats. The hydrogen is used in conjunction with a lithium-ion battery pack to power the car and it has a range of 270 miles.
(Click through for more on the Honda FCX.)
Honda hasn’t released production figures, but it’s a safe bet to assume that this will be a very limited production car for now. The plan is to evaluate consumer interest in fuel cell vehicles with the FCX.
Does $600 a month for the car, insurance, and maintenance sound like a reasonable deal? Let us know in comments.
Comments
Clint
That roofline looks verrrry familiar.
We've reached a new milestone: A Japanese manufacturer rips off styling from the iconic design of ... another Japanese manufacturer!
Reilly
Good call, Clint. If what they didn't spend in roofline design they made up for in fuel savings, I think most people are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Clint
Okay, in all fairness, the only two production cars I can think of with lower drag coefficients than the Prius are the Audi A2 and the Honda Insight. Both of these look essentially like the Prius (the A2 to a shocking degree). I guess the wind tunnel doesn't lie when it comes to designing efficient cars.
Aaron
That's the price of smuggness these days. I'm sure they'll have no problem leasing them all out. The styling is quite nice, especially the interior and door handles. That's a big ol' booty hanging off the rear, though.
davido
What a relief!! I thought Jaguar was the only brand capable of teasing us with a brilliantly styled concept only to disappoint us with the production version.
Is getting that front bumber in body color an option? That would help.
john
Not $600.00. $500.00 would bring buyers and depending on the standard options people like with the car.
Ducati Minor
I see Prius all in there--but may be Honda's logic. The Prius is a distinct-looking car that separates itself from the masses. A Honda hydro-Prius could work.
Oollyoumn
Back to the question, $600 sounds reasonable to me, but I have not seen the fine print of the lease. If a reasonable number of miles are allowed, there is no chance of a large lease exit cost and I actually had a hope of buying hydrogen for less than $.25/mile, I would do it.
LandCrusher
Anyone else thinking EV-1?
mo
i see a failure. the design is not attractive at all. the pricing is high for something of unknown reliability. even if maintainance is included, i won't be happy if i waste every second day going to the dealer.
Richard H
Can you say Honda Prius! It looks similar to a lunch box. I bet if you hold you hand out the window, while driving down the road, it will turn!
JohnD
$600 a month with insurance, and maintenance included is not a bad deal. And no gasoline, even better yet.
Blake
Oh man! Looks retarded!
Tony D
600 a month for maintenance and insurance is a steal, especially for the priviledge of driving the first hydrogen powered passenger car in the world. As for the roofline being similair to the Prius; HELLO, all airplanes look alike too, it's called a wind tunnel. How soon will anyone else be leasing hydrogen powered vehicles to anybody with 600 a month to spend? This thing will make history.
The Volt MIGHT be out by 2011, and it don't run on hydrogen. Honda KICKS ASS.
Kenneth
By the design of this car (along with a few others), whatever computer model program that they are using to test coefficients and design specifications must be the same or EXTREMELY similar; or...they are all going to the same company to draft their vehicle designs. My question is: Since almost everything else is included, how much will recharging the fuel cell cost? Also, where are the locations of your recharging stations? It seems to me that you 1) will not be able to leave Cali with this vehicle (no true road test) and 2) will not be able to go to many other cities in California. Still it would be an experience to beta test something like this (it will cost ya as well). Let me beta test the all electric car (^_^) or the one that runs completely on water (^_^)!!
mo
Tony D, wake up from your wet dream
1) being a guinea pig is never a “privilege
Tony D
Yo Mo, when planes are designed for similair purposes, they look very much alike. The Clarity is a 5 passenger car designed to be good to the environment, the stated goal of the Prius.
Honda builds 8 cylinders for F1 racing, and are developing a 10 cylinder for their flagship sports car coming from Acura in a few years.
Anyone can make a large displacement engine with lot's of torque, but very few companies can get 100 hp per liter without forced induction with clockwork like reliability.
I state once again: Honda KICKS ASS.
Tony D
And as for being a guinee pig, I do indeed view it as a priviledge.
When the USA put men on the moon, those men were guinee pigs. Is being the first moon walking astronaut not a priviledge?
Being the first on my block to be able to commute to and from work while only exhausting water vapour into the atmosphere? Definitely a priviledge worth paying for.
Tony D
And another thing (shaking finger in air)
I agree that this design isn't quite as sexy as the concept car was. But the Prius has proven that good looks are certainly not required for success. Good, cutting edge technology is sexy enough for the early adopters.
This thing is going to be so small production at first that I am certain that they will have many more takers than Clarity's to go around.
I know people who refuse to upgrade from the old wrangler with the 4 liter inline engine to the new one with the 3.8 liter V engine because they don't trust anything that hasn't been around for 40 years. These are not the people who Honda is courting. How they feel about the looks of the Clarity matters not at all.
That said, some bigger wheels and a lowering job would do wonders for how it looks.
Richard H
Tony D...what an idiot! If you are so enamored with Honda move to Japan. Honda is the last car I will ever own. Their styling is slighlty better that Toyota but not by much. The only Jap Company that has any styling at all is Mazda followed by Nissan.
I am all for fuel cells, however I will wait untill one of the Big 3 produce one here in the good ol USA! before I will even consider one.
600 a month for the "privlage" that is hardly and privlage at all. For 600 a month I can get a real nice American Car the will run into the ground anyting made in Japan and will have a lot more fun driving it.
USA Rules, Japan sucks!
Clint
The more I think about it, the people in SoCal who will jump on board (and whom Honda will let jump on board) with this very limited test will not care how much it costs. Think of all the people in the entertainment and IT industries who want to be seen in these cars - and think about how much Honda wants these people to be in their cars. They will likely be able to afford anything from $600 to more than $1,600 a month, and will already have another gas-powered car for trips outside SoCal.
mo
@ tony D
1) it seems that (shaking your finger in the air) is part of your wet dream ...... dream on.
2) i ain't gonna repeat myself again, my point is clear. future will show who is right.
3) yeah yeah, i knew you're gonna argue the F1 thing which so far remains over there for Honda. Anyways, an F1 engine is not torquey at all (the V8 gives around 200 ft.lb) which totally states my argument. MOST HONDA ENGINES LACK TORQUE (that is assuming Honda is using the F1 technology for designing its street engines).
how many hondas with a V8 so far ...... a big zero. the first V10 is gonna be in 2010 or so, that is after more than 60 yrs since the company was established.
I am already seeing the new car having the same fate of the NSX (which didn’t sell well). Now your grudge is gonna be worse, but lets all face it, nobody prefers a Honda over a lambo or a Ferrari. If you’re gonna say you prefer Honda reliability over lambo and Ferrari reliability then keep it to yourself.
4) the 100 hp/L you’re so happy about comes at 8000 rpm. Do you drive at 8000 rpm in every day’s commuting. Anyways the point I said before is lack of torque, and remember I said most not all.
5) nobody is gonna be recognized as the first dorks to drive a (whatever the car's name), but going to the moon is a great event and so ppl wrote down the first guys who did so. we are talking about an important event (standing on the moon) versus a meaningless event (proving dorkiness), two incomparable events .
6) big wheels and lowering job ..... gimme a break. you can't turn dork to cool with accessories. as well, i wanna see weird al yankovic drive this car in the next ‘white and nerdy’. putting the car in such a song is a very important marketing strategy that aims to nerds and dorks (obviously i am kiddin').
7) many not car ppl see all cars alike, that doesn't mean they are alike. saying planes are alike is the same as saying all bikes are alike, all cars are alike, all motorcycles are alike. This ain’t the case.
pat
have been waiting for three years. build it they will come.
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CARSON44
Let's see, when they actually made airplanes, ones designed for similar purposes. Beech V-35 Bonanza, Ercoupe, PA-28 Piper Arrow, Cessna 172, 182, Cessna 210,Cessna Cardinal, Piper Tomahawk, Maule, Bellanca Viking, Mooney. Well there you have it, all I could think of , yea, I guess they are all indistinguishable one from another.
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