Honda hasn’t given up on hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The company is working on a Honda CR-V Fuel Cell version, which it plans to manufacture at the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, starting in 2024. The hydrogen-powered CR-V, unlike the Clarity Fuel Cell, will be a plug-in hybrid. It will have a battery pack that stores energy and allows driving as a battery-electric vehicle.
BEV-like usage
The Honda CR-V FCEV will be a hydrogen hybrid FCEV, not an ordinary FCEV. With its plug-in feature, it can double as a battery electric vehicle (BEV). In places where hydrogen is not available, customers can plug it into a charger and use it as a BEV.
Fuel cell system
Honda plans to use a new-generation fuel cell system co-developed with General Motors in the CR-V Fuel Cell. Compared to the 2019 Clarity Fuel Cell, the next-generation fuel cell system should offer more than double the durability and reduce the cost to one-third.
Honda and GM have taken various measures for cost reduction, increased durability, and improved low-temperature resistance, including the adoption of innovative materials for electrodes, the application of corrosion-resistant materials, and enhanced controls. Production of this fuel cell system will take place at the Honda-GM joint venture facility in Michigan, USA.
As for packaging based on the PHEV variant of Honda CR-V, hydrogen fuel tanks will be installed and the fuel cell system and the drive unit will be installed as one, which will enable this new FCV model to inherit the outstanding dynamic performance from the base model and realize excellent handling that provokes a sense of unity with the vehicle, as well as clear and sharp ride comfort.
Tetsuya Hasebe, General Manager of Hydrogen Business Development Division, Business Development Supervisory Unit, Business Development Operations, Honda
The hydrogen-powered system measures 835 mm (32.8 in.) x 605 mm (23.8 in.) x 660 mm (25.9 in.) and can be mounted under the hood of a passenger car, Nikkei xTECH reported on March 18, 2022. The system develops 80 kW (107 hp) as per the Japanese site.
Five-seater
In an internal interview, Tetsuya Hasebe, General Manager of the Hydrogen Business Development Division, Business Development Supervisory Unit, Business Development Operations, Honda, revealed that the hydrogen fuel cell variant would be a five-seater.
Sales
It’s evident from the type of powertrain that the Honda CR-V Hydrogen variant will be a special model. That fact is further reinforced by its planned production location, which is Acura NSX’s exclusive global home. Honda planned PMC from the outset for manufacturing specialty, hand-built vehicles. To us, there’s no doubt the Honda CR-V Fuel Cell will be a low-volume specialty vehicle, available only in select ZEV states and available only for lease.
Featured image: TopElectricSUV’s illustration of an electrified new Honda CR-V
An automobile engineer by qualification, I’ve analyzed the global car market since 2005 and reviewed electric vehicles since 2008. In my 15 years in the online automotive publishing, I’ve edited around 35,000 articles.
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