Honda Clarity FCV: Honda's production hydrogen fuel cell car arrives at Tokyo Motor Show

Honda Clarity FCV: Honda’s production hydrogen fuel cell car

The Honda Clarity Hydrogen Fuel Cell car has been revealed in production guise at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and will go on sale in the UK in 2016.

You wait ages for a proper production hydrogen fuel cell car to arrive (the Toyota Mirai) and before you know it there’s another – the Honda Clarity FCV.

True, we also have the Hyundai ix35 FCEV, but Honda’s production take on a mainstream car fuelled by hydrogen is aiming squarely at the Mirai, and on paper it looks like it has the edge.

Not only does the Clarity have the edge, but unlike Honda’s previous attempt – the FCX Clarity – the Clarity FRCV will be a proper production car, with more than a handful running round the roads when it arrives in the UK in 2016.

The FCV gets a high-pressure hydrogen tank that will allow the smaller, more efficient fuel cell stack to deliver enough electric to power the FCV for 450 miles, with an easy fill-up taking just three minutes, and to deliver an output from the electric motor of 175bhp – a chunk more than the Mirai.

In terms of looks, the design is a slightly toned down take on the Concept FCEV we saw earlier this year, but none the worse for that, and the interior (below) looks appealing enough.

It’s still very early days for hydrogen fuel cell cars, but it looks like the momentum is starting to grow and, subject to a refuelling network growing, we’ll be seeing many more FCEVs in the coming years.