Fully
functional Next-Generation Fuel Cell makes its driving debut
Photo: Honda
TOCHIGI, Japan - Honda
Motor Co., Ltd. today held a demonstration drive of the
next-generation FCX Concept fuel cell vehicle. 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.
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
10oC lower than the current FCX -- as low as minus 30oC.
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.
