Honda Clarity

FIRST DRIVE Fuel cell model is a technological marvel pointing to an intriguing future

THE Honda Clarity is a fuel cell vehicle designed to get around one of the most persistent problems with electric cars: recharging. Plenty of EV owners top up their batteries at home, but when out and about, things become more of a lottery.

Fuel cell technology offers a solution – albeit one with compromises. You fuel the Clarity from a hydrogen pump, in much the same way as you would a regular car, and it takes roughly the same amount of time to do so. Then, the car’s fuel cell stack turns the hydrogen into electricity to power the motors. It emits nothing but water.

Honda claims the Clarity has the greatest range of any zero-emissions vehicle (403 miles), but with only a dozen hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK, you’d still need to go out of your way to fill the tank.

This is not the first Honda fuel cell vehicle; its predecessor, the FCX Clarity, was leased to selected customers back in the early 2000s. The same applies to the new Clarity, although just three selected UK customers will get their hands on one this year in return for filling a few in-depth surveys for Honda engineers. By next year, there will be six cars on British roads.

This Clarity is a huge step on from the FCX. The new car’s stack has a slightly higher output (103kw compared with 100kw), but it’s now compact and robust enough to fit under the bonnet. In fact, the packaging is clever enough for the Clarity to be a five-seater – the first fuel cell saloon able to carry three in the back. There’s a 334-litre boot, too, although Toyota’s fourseat Mirai rival trumps it with 361 litres.

From the outside, the Clarity has a few cues to hint at its green credentials. It’s most notable in the side profile, which includes partly faired-in rear wheels, designed to be as efficient as possible. There’s a ‘blade’ at the base of the back door that funnels fast-moving air down the flanks, but a Civic-like spoiler results in a cluttered view through the rear-view mirror.

The Clarity’s electric motor is rated at 174bhp, and there’s 300Nm of torque from rest. The car goes from 0-62mph in 9.2 seconds, and on to a top speed of 103mph.

It’s extremely refined, too, and while there is a distant whine under hard acceleration, the powertrain is silent at 70mph. It’s quiet around town plus, in traffic, it’s devoid of mechanical noise.

Honda’s Danish test route involved a lot of straight, smooth roads, but the steering was easy to trust and the ride seemed nicely sorted. The Clarity stays sufficiently flat for us to suspect that rougher UK roads may catch it out a bit more often, however.

It does a very good job of disguising its complexity. The only extraneous button on the dash seems to be the ‘Sport’ switch,

“Just three selected customers in the UK will be able to get their hands on a Honda Clarity this year”

which improves throttle response and adds more aggressive brake energy recuperation. But we doubt many owners would touch it.

That’s not to say that there’s a shortage of tech. You get an eight-inch central screen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, as well as a fuel cell monitor that displays the real-time power usage via an animated ball in the instrument cluster.

There’s black wood trim on the dash with synthetic leather and a type of suede produced from recycled polyester, too. The overall effect is smart and premium – more so than any Honda currently on sale, in fact.

Honda is leasing this Clarity in the US for less than £300 month, but company sources say that when its successor arrives in the UK – by 2022, or thereabouts – it’ll probably cost about £400 per month. But Honda UK could also follow the Americans’ lead by throwing in a week or two’s car rental for when your journey can’t be served by the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.