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| The new challenge of shaping
the future of mobility |
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Improved combustion technology
for gasoline engines, electric cars, natural gas vehicles, hybrid
vehicles at
Honda, we have always worked to develop cleaner powertrains. As part
of this ongoing challenge, and faced with the need to find solutions
to global warming, atmospheric pollution, depletion of fossil fuel
resources, and other environmental problems, we turned to hydrogen
as an energy source. Hydrogen is attractive not only in that it produces
no CO2 or other harmful emissions, but
also because it is not a fossil fuel. Our goal was to create a powertrain
built around the fuel cell, which provides the ultimate in green performance
by combining hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction that produces
electricity and only water as a byproductand
not only that, but to install this powertrain in a fuel cell vehicle
that exhibits superb energy efficiency, driving performance, comfort,
and safety.
The powertrain utilizes a high-pressure, pure-hydrogen type fuel cell
system in combination with Honda's own originally developed ultra-capacitor
to power an electric motor drive. Besides eliminating emissions of
CO2 and other harmful substances, we also
applied a wealth of existing Honda technologies, including EV (electric
vehicle) electric drive technology, NGV (natural gas vehicle) high-pressure
gas storage technology, and advanced energy management technology
used in our hybrid vehicle, to achieve greater energy efficiency.
The result was a vehicle with a range, responsiveness, and power on
par with that of a gasoline-engine vehicle.
We also put Honda's one-of-a-kind packaging technology to work to
develop a custom platform that gives this fuel cell vehicle all the
ease of use that people expect in a compact car. Giving full consideration
to hydrogen's special characteristics, we created an efficient layout
that locates the powertrain's many structural components in the front,
under the floor, and behind the rear seat. This layout provides a
spacious cabin with room for four adults in a compact body, while
maintaining a high level of collision safety performance no matter
what the crash direction.
The FCX fuel cell vehicle is the product of Honda's challenge to create
a completely new type of automobile through technological advance
and refinement. The age of hydrogen is upon us, and the possibilities
are enormous. |
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