“I’ve driven lots of cars. I’ve wallowed like a Russian oligarch pig in the gorgeous mud of a $1.6-million Bugatti Veyron. I’ve spit tailpipe fire across the midnight Mojave at the wheel of a Lamborghini. I’ve brushed gape-mouthed peasants aside with the chrome cowcatcher grille of a Rolls Royce Phantom. Yet I have never driven a car half as advanced, as futuristic, as blind-with-science as the Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle … It is a fact that the FCX Clarity is the most beautiful car to ever wear the big H on the nose. It’s just gorgeous, a big garnet-red teardrop falling from the cheek of the future, a sweet stanza of robot-written poetry.” - Dan Neil, LA Times

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Reviews of the hydrogen fuel cell-powered Clarity have been rapturous, even from writers who are hydrogen skeptics, as the quote above shows.  Neil goes on to give his (negative) opinion on the viability of this technology, but unfortunately it is just that.  For a few rebuttals to his incorrect conclusions, check out the NHA and the CARB responses on our resource page.  As always, add your voice to the mix.

To help understand why writers have been so taken with the Clarity, BTI put together a comparison table [utilizing third-party data] to see how the Clarity measures up on performance and fuel efficiency, but also on more mundane measures such as rear seat and trunk room.  The Clarity is exceptional - because it’s not exceptional.  There are few compromises, and by several measures, the Clarity is at the top of this class.  Notable are torque, which is expected of an electric drive car, but also efficiency and speed.  Clarity achieves a combined city-highway rating of 72 miles per gallon (equivalent) which is up to three times the others.  Toyota, Daimler and GM are also making exceptional strides on fuel cell vehicles.

A few months ago, we were lucky enough to be able to drive the Clarity ourselves and according to our own Bud DeFlaviis, “I’ve driven a number of hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles, but this was one of the most highly refined I’ve seen so far. Hats off to companies like Honda and GM for giving the public an opportunity to experience these state-of-the-art technologies.  If more people were able to see and feel these vehicles first-hand, consumers would understand why the automakers continue to focus on fuel cells for propulsion and range extension for future plug-in hybrid platforms.”

Thanks to our intern, Remy Dollet for putting this chart together!

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking stakeholder and public input on potential early markets and deployment opportunities for hydrogen and fuel cells. This is your chance to give your Insider point of view - be heard.

The information collected will help guide DOE Hydrogen Program efforts to identify key early markets and related green domestic jobs, validate hydrogen and fuel cell system performance through data collection and communicate results, cultivate demand and accelerate market development, and reduce non-technical barriers that hinder market penetration.

The topics in this RFI include:

• Early Fuel Cell Market Applications with High Volume Potential
• Integrated Renewable Hydrogen Systems and Public-Private Community-Based Partnerships
• Using Biogas and Fuel Cells for Co-Production of On-Site Power and Hydrogen
• Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Fuel Cell Systems
• Using Combined Heat, Hydrogen, and Power (CHHP) Systems to Co-Produce and Deploy Hydrogen to Early Market Customers
• Analysis of Excess and/or Waste Hydrogen Sources

The full RFI with information about providing comments is available on the DOE e-Center, and it closes on March 31, 2009. (Note: This page may take a minute to load.)