Honda Demonstrates the FCX Concept
Vehicle in United States: Fully functional Next-Generation Fuel
Cell made its U.S. driving debut
Photos: Honda
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.,
held a demonstration drive of the next-generation FCX Concept
fuel cell vehicle at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey,
California. The FCX Concept features a newly developed compact,
high-efficiency Honda FC Stack as well as a low-floor,
low-riding, short-nose body. It offers a comfortably large cabin
and futuristic styling along with significant improvements in
power output and environmental performance. Limited marketing of
a totally new fuel cell vehicle based on this concept model is
to begin in 2008 in Japan and the U.S.
To meet Honda objectives
for significant gains in both environmental and driving
performance, the FCX Concept is equipped with a V Flow1 fuel
cell platform consisting of a compact, high-efficiency fuel cell
stack arranged in an innovative center-tunnel layout. This has
allowed designers to create an elegant, low-riding, sedan form
that would have been difficult to achieve in a conventional fuel
cell vehicle. This new fuel cell stack is 20 percent smaller and
30 percent lighter than the current FCX FC Stack, yet its power
output is 14kW greater. The drive motor has been positioned
coaxially with the gearbox for a more compact design, with
output increased by 15kW. Overall, the power plant is about
180kg lighter than that of the current FCX and about 40 percent
smaller in volume. The result is improved energy efficiency and
performance along with a more spacious interior.
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While with previous fuel cell
stacks the hydrogen and the water formed in electricity
generation flowed horizontally, the new FCX Concept features
vertical-flow design. This allows gravity to assist in
discharging the water that is produced, resulting in a major
improvement in water drainage, key to high-efficiency fuel stack
performance. The result is stable power generation under a broad
range of conditions, and higher output from a smaller package.
Low-temperature startup has also been
significantly improved, enabling cold-weather starts at temperatures 10
degrees C lower than the current FCX- as low as minus 30 degrees C.
As an auxiliary power source, the
FCX Concept carries a compact, high-efficiency lithium ion battery,
contributing to increased power output and a more compact power plant.
These efficiency improvements to major power plant components give the
vehicle a travel range approximately 30 percent greater than the current
FCX. The vehicle is also highly efficient, with an energy efficiency of
around 60 percent -approximately three times that of a gasoline-engine
vehicle, twice that of a hybrid vehicle, and 10 percent better than the
current FCX.
Other features include seat upholstery
and door linings made from Honda Bio-Fabric, a plant-based material
that offers outstanding durability and resistance to sunlight damage.
Other improvements such as Shift-by-Wire and a newly designed instrument
panel with easy-to-read display of hydrogen fuel consumption facilitate
improved ease of operation. The new fuel cell vehicle currently under
development for release in 2008, will feature the principle technologies
of the FCX Concept to achieve a new dimension in environmentally
friendly driving pleasure not found with gasoline-engine vehicles.
