Honda’s Hydrogen-Huffing Mirai Fighter Concept

Honda’s Hydrogen-Huffing Mirai Fighter Concept
Automakers and their domestic government believe in hydrogen as a cure-all to our environmental quandaries, and they’ve invested a lot of money in making it viable. Back in 2008, Honda put the first purpose-built hydrogen fuel cell car on the road, but in the hands of fewer than 30 people. The FCX Clarity was a big deal, though, because it wasn’t an existing car hacked up and stuffed with tanks and inverters and things. Allegedly, each car cost Honda $1 million when you added up all the money put into building two dozen or so cars.
2017-Honda-Clarity-Fuel-Cell-front-three-quarter
Thing is, it drove like any other Honda sedan. It was built to production car standards and performed as well as any run-of-the-mill Civic. In fact, ignoring its onboard fuel cell, it was the best electrically driven car on the market by a country mile. (Remember, the Tesla Model S wouldn’t exist for several more years.) It had its compromises, though. Refueling was different and required special training and care. The fuel cell stack and hydrogen tanks took up a lot of space, leaving little room for cargo. The most important work has gone on under the hood, where Honda has shrunk the fuel cell stack by a third and much of the power control hardware similarly to the point where it can all fit under the hood for the first time. The fuel cell itself features 30 percent fewer actual cells, but power density is up 50 percent. All told, the new, compact stack puts out 100-plus kilowatts at 330 volts. It now resides on top of the electric motor, where the power controller and voltage regulator used to live. The controller is smaller and incorporated in the motor housing, and the smaller regulator now sits on top of the fuel cell.The hydrogen tanks under the rear seat, the Clarity Fuel Cell is a true five-seater now, with as much space in the rear seat as your average compact sedan. Although Honda could’ve used the additional space to make a big trunk, it instead increased the trunk size moderately and used the rest of the space to fit a larger hydrogen tank behind the rear seats. Doing so has increased the range from 240 miles to 300 miles and change (the 2016 Mirai is rated for 312 miles). Honda still claims to have the biggest trunk of any fuel cell vehicle on the market (a low bar), and you could probably get two large suitcases in there now as opposed to the one the FCX would hold. The cherry on top is that despite the extra range, you can still fill the tanks in about three minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it would take you to put gas in another car. Beat that, Tesla Superchargers.

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