First Honda Clarity FCV Hydrogen cars arrive in the UK

The first hydrogen fuel cell Honda Clarity FCV cars have arrived in Europe and the UK and will take part in the Hydrogen for Innovative Vehicles project.

It was more than a year ago that the Honda Clarity FCV arrived in production guise at the Toyota Motor Show, and now it’s finally arriving in the UK and Europe.

We’re not entirely sure that Honda actually planning to sell the Clarity to anyone who rolls up to a Honda dealers in the UK, but some of the half a dozen Claritys arriving this week will end up with customers in London as part of the Hydrogen for Innovative Vehicles (HyFIVE) demonstration project.

The Clarity competes with the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix35 FCEV in the quest to get car buyers to adopt hydrogen fuel cell cars, but, sadly, it’s a bit of an uphill battle.

Despite hydrogen fuel cells potentially offering a far better solution than BEVs – certainly unless there’s a disruptive technology advance in batteries – the twin obstacles of low volume cost and refuelling infrastructure probably make adoption of FCEVs at the mercy of government funding.

Still, with automotive behemoths like Honda, Toyota and Hyundai still pursuing the FCEV dream, all is not lost, and the HyFIVE project is doing what he can to encourage infrastructure growth and awareness of FCVs.

Thomas Brachmann, Honda’s Fuel Cell man in Europe, said:

Honda has always been one of the leaders in the field of hydrogen fuel cell technology, with over 30 years of research and development behind us. The arrival of these vehicles in Europe and Honda’s participation in HyFIVE is the next step towards Honda’s vision of the full commercialisation of this technology.