If you live in the right place, and you have enough money, you can buy a fuel cell car today. In 2008, Honda has begun leasing the Clarity FCX, the first commercially available fuel cell car. However, in order to qualify to purchase this car, you must live in Southern California within a certain radius of the few available hydrogen refueling stations. The Clarity FCX can go about 270 miles before refueling. The availability of hydrogen refueling stations will continue to be an issue in developing a hydrogen economy. Each station costs millions of dollars and requires a large volume of fuel cell cars as customers in order to be financially viable. Another alternative to building hydrogen stations is developing home refueling stations. Honda has operated an experimental Home Energy Station since 2003. This station operates using natural gas to produce hydrogen for refueling and can reduce the amount of a family’s carbon emission by as much as 30% over combustion engine automobiles. Honda is still working to improve the size and convenience of this Home Energy System. Visit http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/ for more information about the Honda fuel cell program.
Other automobile manufacturers are also expecting to bring fuel cell vehicles to the commercial market soon. Ford Motor Company has produced the Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Plug-in Vehicle. Ford feels that improving the efficiency of the lithium-ion batteries will be necessary before this car can be made commercial. General Motors has been working on fuel cell technology since the early 1980’s and currently has over 600 people working on perfecting their hydrogen fuel cell cars.