The newest Green Supercar from Honda

Posted November 24, 2008 at 04:20 PM by Christian Milsom

Section: Gadgets / Other, Green, Transportation

The idea of having hydrogen powered cars is nothing new: the theory has been around pretty much since World War II.  However, there have always been several flaws in the practicality of using hydrogen as a source of power.  It is expensive and energy consuming to make it usable.  Hydrogen is also not widely available, the batteries are bulky, the cars are expensive and they usually look horrible. So why has Honda made a hydrogen supercar?

The FC Sport revealed at the LA Auto Show is the pinnacle of design and hydrogen technology, combining the two in some environmentally chic blender in a way that has a product that can still classify as a supercar.  This is, as Honda so aptly put it, “a glimpse of the future of the supercar.“

The main advantage of this car is that advances in technology have allowed for the fuel cells to be put anywhere in the car, meaning that it is not limited to the front or rear like traditional combustion engines.  There is also no need for a massive gearbox either, freeing up yet more space for the three seats (yes, I know, I will explain in a minute).  Finally, this allows for a low center of gravity increasing performance to supercar standards as the fuel cells sit neatly in between both axles.

As I have already mentioned this is quite a lot bigger than its performance standard counterparts, due to the lack of a whacking great V12 engine smothering your interior space.  An interesting output of this is that it will allow three seats sitting abreast by the driver, with (surprisingly) the driver in the middle a very odd concept.  I fear that this is a bad move as it will definitely put people off as well as being impractical when you need to pass the pretzels across, although I do like the upward hinging futuristic doors.

Unfortunately, there are problems, some of them worryingly fundamental.  The environmentally friendly credentials are somewhat flawed (although the Glacier White color, which is some how related to it being a clean car, is very nice) due to the fact that compressing, bottling and transporting hydrogen is fairly energy intensive.  This is a problem that may be solved in the future and it is definitely better than oil, but it is annoying to see them emphasize the zero emissions while ignoring the energy needed for the car before it even starts.

Also, it is only a concept car as of yet, but I fear that we will be seeing the to-die-for design later rather than sooner due to the economic climate.  This is a shame as this looks like a great car, but hopefully we will be seeing elements of this car in future Honda designs that will be a little more affordable.

Source [CarMagazine.co.uk]