Honda FCX fuel-cell concept car (2007) CAR review

So this is a ‘production fuel cell car’? Can’t find it in the Honda price list…

You won’t. California law requires big car makers to offer zero-emission vehicles as part of their line-up, and the hydrogen fuel-cell powered FCX is Honda’s latest. It will hand-build fewer than 100 from 2008 and ‘lease’ them to high-profile or worthy users for a fraction of what it costs to make. So you might not be able to order one, but the real significance of the FCX is that it shows that if we can crack the problems still surrounding hydrogen fuel we’ll be able to drive just like we do now when the oil finally runs out. The FCX does 0-60mph in 10 seconds, 100mph and has a range of over 350 miles. And it’s sexy, isn't it?

I sense a ‘but’ coming on…

Yes – a big one. We still can’t manufacture hydrogen in a green and financially viable way, and there’s no hydrogen infrastructure to get it into our tanks. This is a problem facing all hydrogen-powered vehicles, including those, like the BMW Hydrogen 7, that burn H2 in an otherwise standard internal combustion engine. But fuel-cell cars like the FCX face a second hurdle. The fuel cell itself, in which hydrogen is split into protons and electrons, creating electricity and only water as a by-product, is fearsomely expensive as there’s currently no way of mass-producing it; they are all hand-made. Honda reckons both problems should be cracked by 2020, but that there’s a 20 percent chance we won’t have resolved the technical problems even then.