Honda brings the hydrogen economy closer

The next generation of fuel-cell stacks from Honda offers more power from a smaller package, and a prototype solar-powered refueling station delivers the hydrogen fuel.

Honda has been developing its own fuel-cell stacks for the FCX vehicle series in parallel with the application of stacks supplied by Ballard Power Systems, Inc. Seven Ballard-powered Honda FCXs have been delivered to date, the first batch of three each to Japanese government agencies and to the City of Los Angeles in December 2002, and more recently one vehicle to Iwatani Sangyo in the private sector, whose products include hydrogen refueling systems. Honda runs its own fleet of FCXs in Japan and California for real-life evaluation and development, with both Ballard and Honda stacks.

Honda describes its latest fuel-cell stack as “the Next-Generation” (Next-Gen), which is the third generation, and will be the unit “for volume production in the future.” The first-generation (Gen-1) stack was installed in the FCX-V2 vehicle, introduced in September 1999. The V2 was equipped with an onboard methanol reformer system. The stack occupied 67 L (2.4 ft³) of space, had a mass of 101 kg (223 lb), and put out 30 kW. The second-generation (Gen-2) stack, installed in the FCX-V3 in February 2001 for on-road evaluations included in the California Fuel-Cell Partnership programs based in Sacramento, had its volume and mass reduced to 48 L (1.7 ft³) and 73 kg (161 lb) respectively, while putting out 35 kW.