Fuel Cell Vehicles for Lease | Green Energy News

July 21, 2002 – Vol.7 No.17

FUEL CELL VEHICLES FOR LEASE.

Following in Toyota’s footsteps, Honda will begin leasing a few handfuls of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to qualified customers by the end of this year. The company will lease 30 FCX vehicles divided between metropolitan Tokyo and California, places where hydrogen fueling is available.

The FCX, which has been certified as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) in California and a Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) by U.S. EPA standards, has a top speed of 93 miles per hour (150 kph) and can go up to 220 miles before refueling with pressurized hydrogen. The car has an 80 horsepower (60 kw) motor and the fuel cell works in conjunction with a bank of ultra-capacitors which recapture lost energy. The FCX is based on Honda’s EV Plus.

Like the Toyota program, this lease program can be considered part of Honda’s development process for fuel cell vehicles. Honda has not announced who would be eligible to lease on of the cars, but likely potential customers will companies or institutions, not individuals. Honda has not mentioned a monthly price for the lease. Visit Honda (media) at http://www.hondanews.com/ .