JessePS

Guess its something for Mythbusters to test

encore888

LOL, and being early isn't everything...case in point:

Acura 1986, about four years head start on Lexus 1989

Insight US debut 1999, ahead of Prius US debut 2000

Major props to Honda for their work on the FCX Clarity though.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The FCX will probably be Honda's greatest achievement, but competition will quickly follow and take over Honda.

One thing I'm amazed is the difference in drivetrain between the original and current FCX. The motor, battery, fuel cells, etc are so much more efficient now, and they all package in a smaller footprint. Don't quote me on this, but the original FCX had an EPA equivalent of 55mpg. The current FCX is rated around 70mpg, and it's a much bigger and more powerful car. Plus it's lighter.

I'm curious to see what Toyota has up their sleeves. They don't push hydrogen as much, but there is always someone working on it in the back room.

mmarshall

Lexus and Infiniti may have never come about, though, if it wasn't for the previous success of Acura. Acura, in the mid-late 1980s, proved that a Japanese company could sell upmarket vehicles here in America.

Remember, though......BOTH vehicles had been on sale in Japan for awhile. And the 1Gen Prius, though quirky, turned out to be a more practical, usable vehicle than the 1Gen Insight. The first Insight, though tremendously economical, was little more than a motorized Kiddy-Car.


Agreed.....but not major props to the way they have marketed it. Its availability to the public, so far, has been too restricted, even in the few places that have a reasonable number of hydrogen-refilling stations.

bagwell

nope...as long as Honda "provides" one of these I'm set...hahahha!!!

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-cla...y-station.aspx

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

fuel cells are nothing but a glorified battery. I can interchange both of them and they accomplish the same thing they are both sources of electric current for an electric motor. Its just the fuel cell is far more complicated and annoying to fill up than charging a battery. EVs are missing something: a high capacity battery that will make ranges more practical. Fuel cells are missing something: an economically efficient way to refine pure hydrogen, an infrastructure to delivery that hydrogen. Who's going to win first? Who knows, but it doesn't look as good for fuel cells. If a new long range battery comes out it will be the nail in the coffin for fuel cells.

LexFather

I agree the FCX is a fantastic vehicle from what I've read and heard. I hope they really learn what they can and apply it soon as Honda has bet on hydrogen, Nissan on EV and Toyota has its hand in everything but is most known for hybrids.

Lexus and Infiniti were planned in the early 1980s, clearly Honda came first with Acura but its not like they spent anywhere as much R&D thus it was a lot easier to produce and well, the results today speak for themselves. Lexus is by far the #1 Japanese luxury brand, Infiniti has some of the product but sells worse than Acura and Acura is simply Honda plus then and now.

Their only upmarket product was the Legend, the Integra sold at the same price as the Accord in the 1980s.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The FCX is not that complicated. It's basically like pumping at your local gas station. You put the nozzle into the car, lock it, and then just pump. Nothing hard about it. One thing it has over an EV is the time it takes to refuel. The FCX takes about 15 minutes. And EV takes how long?

Infrastructure is always going to be a problem for any new technology. It was a problem back then when gasoline engines were first invented. People rode on horses. It takes time but if we do something about it, we can make it happen. I still love my gasoline car though

mmarshall

Might affect the lease price some.

mmarshall

Part of this is product superiority, but part of it, no doubt, is that Lexus has been able to market their products in America better than either Infiniti or Acura. Infiniti, in particular, did a terrible marketing job with the Q45, and almost as bad with the M30 and J30. Acura (I thought) started to go go downhill with the unimpressive Vigor, and has never totally recovered since.


Also the case, to some extent, with Lexus. The first ES250, though almost an identically-rebadged Camry, sold for a significantly higher price, and was, IMO, a rather poor value. And the two-door Integra turned out to be a wild hit with the young, caps-on-backwards crowd.