Car Reviews

The buzz with alternative fuel vehicles is all about performance. Sure, a zero-emissions vehicle is great, but if it takes me 10 minutes to get to 60 mph, what’s it worth? The Tesla Roadster has proven that well-designed eco-vehicles will sell—at any price. The Honda FC Sport concept took the hydrogen fuel cell technology already developed for the Honda FCX Clarity and pushed it to sport performance level.

The downside? It’s a concept. We hope Honda doesn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one when it comes to production. The world needs alternative fuel vehicles that don’t look like grandma’s boring, errand-running, stubby sedan.

The cars in the first round of Honda’s limited production of the FCX Clarity, an advanced hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, have been spoken for. In fact, only qualified customers in Irvine, Santa Monica and Torrance had the remote opportunity to take one home.

Producing this alternative fuel vehicle is a significant effort in mainstreaming hydrogen fuel-cell cars. The technology is a few steps beyond current hybrids, and the body style isn’t unattractive. Those who were lucky enough to grab one are paying no less than $600 per month lease.

While the modest introductory release may not seem quite “fair” to the rest of the country, the availability to refuel the FCX Clarity is even more limited!