More Environment-Friendly, Fuel Cell Powered Hondas to Traverse
the Streets of Los Angeles Soon
More Environment-Friendly, Fuel Cell Powered Hondas to Traverse
the Streets of Los Angeles Soon
This is the latest buzz words in the car industry, but what is
it really all about?
Honda FCX powered by Honda fuel cells.
It has been two years since Honda released the Honda FCX which
has become the first fuel cell vehicle in the world to receive
government certification, paving the way for the commercial use
of fuel cell vehicles. This comes as no surprise as Honda has
always been an advocate of environmental consciousness and a
pioneer in developing cutting edge technology in protecting the
environment. The fuel-cell is propelled by electricity generated
by a hydrogen-oxygen chemical reaction, and its only emission,
amazingly, is water vapor. Now, with a fresh stamp of approval
from the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air
Resources Board, Honda is delivering a family of new FCX
fuel-cell vehicles to its first customer, the city of Los
Angeles, known for its strict environmental emission rules to
eliminate the overwhelming air pollution already at its midst.
The latest version of Honda fuel cells delivers about 15% more
maximum drive motor torque than the previous prototypes and also
provides improvements in mid-to-high range power output
characteristics and acceleration. It also has an amplified
driving range of 220 miles, about 25 miles more than the
previous model.
How does the fuel cell work?
In principle, a fuel cell functions like a battery. Dissimilar
from a battery though, a fuel cell does not run down or require
recharging. It will produce energy in the form of electricity
and heat as long as fuel is supplied. The type of fuel cell used
in the Honda FCX is called a Polymer electrolyte fuel cell.
Powered by Hydrogen gas the fuel cell provides power to the
FCX's AC synchronous electric motor to give the FCX a top speed
of around 93 mph. With engine output at around 60kW, Honda
claims the clean FCX has similar performance to the its petrol
drinking brother, the Honda Civic. Fuel Cells produce
electricity from an external fuel supply as opposed to the
limited internal energy storage capacity of a battery.
A fuel cell system, which includes a "fuel reformer", can
utilize the hydrogen from any hydrocarbon fuel - from natural
gas to methanol, and even gasoline. Since the fuel cell relies
on chemistry and not combustion, emissions from this type of a
system would still be much smaller than emissions from the
cleanest fuel combustion processes. In fact fuel cells running
on hydrogen derived from a renewable source will emit nothing
but water vapor. Water vapor being its only exhaust, a fuel cell
powered vehicle such as the Honda FCX produces completely no
harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Fuel cells were first
used in a practical application by NASA in the 1960