Honda Clarity Fuel Cell: Toyota Mirai hydrogen and unrivaled

The Honda FCX Fuel Cell has the honor of being the first car hydrogen fuel cell with five seats. Announces 700 km of autonomy and sold in 2016.

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, for sale in 2016

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, for sale in 2016

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, for sale in 2016

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, for sale in 2016

Tokyo Motor Show 2015Sling He wanted to create surprise, beyond a autonomy record from 700 km, waiting until Tokyo Motor Show 2015 to unveil the official name of car from hydrogen which we just go down. Yes, surprise when the successor to the Honda FCX Clarity is renamed Honda Clarity Fuel Cell… Little change to how much that changes. To begin with, because they announce that inform 2016 upon its release in Europe. The price when it starts selling in Japan early 2016 It will be of 7,660,000 yen, which at current exchange rates would be a 57,500 euros. That is the political price because they expect the sale to be by leasing so that Sling eventually recovering the car at the end. During the first year it will be sold to institutions, individuals to open from the second year. At this time Japan there are 28 points supply, all capable of providing work 70 MPa (700 bar pressure), But it it is expected that next year the number of hidrogeneras in Japan rise to 81.

The Honda Clarity Fuel Cell with new electrical platform Honda

For the third Japanese automaker would not be feasible to develop a single platform for such an exclusive model as the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, whose production figures are unknown. Take up the idea of ​​conventional models Sling to bring energy deposit under the front seat. In this case it is not combustible, but lithium ion battery which supports at certain times to the fuel cell. This will open the door for other future hybrid models can use it; for example they allowed us to get behind the wheel of a muleto with outward appearance Accord current, but with this same architecture as the Clarity Fuel Cell. This Accord foreshadows a future generation Accord PHEV, a hybrid plug in seeking to achieve an electric range of up to 100 km.

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell TestEverything fits under the hood of the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell

Another key Honda Clarity Fuel Cell It is visible size reduction of the fuel cell. Regarding your predecessor, he 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, Sling He claims to have shrunk the thickness of each cell by 20 percent and reduced by 30 percent the number of cells. As a consequence, it is so small that it has stopped going vertical between the seats so that it can put just above the motor. Work like compaction power electronics ensures that, for the first time, everything related to the fuel cell can be housed under the bonnet in the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell. When you open it, under the banner of earthdreams, nothing makes you think that there is a conventional engine below. With a bulk density three times higher than the FCX Clarity, the battery offers 100 kW. The engine is capable of providing 130 kW, so the 30 kW past come to step on the battery. The engine operates at 500 volts instead of 330 volts in the FCX Clarity, reducing losses. Besides the electric motor can now rotate at a slightly higher rate, 13,000 rpm, five hundred more than before.

Because the lithium ion battery goes under the seat, it has been found sufficient space for three places in the rear seats, a first in Fuel cell cars. The battery It serves support for at certain times to fuel cell Yet the energy regeneration during braking and retention. A gigantic and a smaller, wrapped in aluminum tank carbon fiber, store some 5 kilos hydrogen. With this amount says Sling which provides the Clarity Fuel Cell 700 km of autonomy. Such a milestone in Fuel cell cars.

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell TestA huge compressor, like a turbo, but moved by a electric motor It is part of the “science” Honda Clarity Fuel Cell. They say that cleans the intake air in a conventional manner and rotating at 100,000 rpm for feeding the fuel cell only 2 bars pressure. Server does not understand, that also explain that as a result of compression the air is heated to 300 ° C. So I think that here lies one of the tricks of Honda. Why this car has a conventional front, without the huge air intakes of his predecessors. The temperature is so high that no gigantic radiators needed for cooling, either a battery which normally operates between 70 and 100 degrees, about ten degrees more than what they told us of his stack Toyota engineers Mirai.

Little can be said after driving the car because we just walked a kilometer in a straight line. frank accelerations, continuous and instantaneous, the car feels agile despite the weight, thanks to a thrust equivalent to 176 horses. Power available from than just the movement begins. With 4.89 meters of length It has gotten such good habitability. The presentation is very nice and the driving position has a futuristic point. It lacks nothing compared to a 1.6 Diesel missing … yes, noise. extremely quiet acceleration or retain. He has some curious things like that unlike the Toyota Mirai It will cost you fill a glass with water emitted by the exhaust, because the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell it is not stored, but it is discharged to the ground as it occurs. Or those applique vent on the front fenders, which prove to be functional, not a patch seen in the Honda Civic Type R: there is evacuated outside the hydrogen in case of any unforeseen.

this of the fuel cell I mean it, at least by car manufacturers. They were given a truce until 2015, in what looked like a gentlemen’s agreement to make things right and here is the proposal Sling, which will begin shipping in Japan in 2016. They signed an agreement with General Motors to launch in 2020 their Fuel cell cars, but with this pair of accelerations (in ideal conditions at the test track where Honda has developed the car) we intuit that and give satisfaction to those users who know where to refuel hydrogen. The president, already revealed the name, also revealed that what we find in 2020 It will be the next evolution, which aims to bring the cost of Honda fuel cell cost of petrol or diesel. A graphic illustration of the evolution of the project pointed to 2025 expansion and cost reduction to the level of combustion engines … to remain vigilant.

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