21 Nov 06
For that idea to become reality, the FCX has to advance the fuel cell game beyond anything we've seen so far. It is far from Honda's first attempt at such a car - its earliest efforts date back to 1999 - but I've looked at and driven the previous generation to this one and can say it would appeal only to an ardent environmentalist with no sense of style, no need of interior space and no desire to proceed across the surface of the planet at anything more than a very pedestrian pace. This car is a very different proposition.
For a start, it looks incredible. Designed in-house in Japan, it has a style that's going to attract every minor politician, celeb, environmental campaigner and anyone else wanting to look and do good at the same time. Inside there's sprawling space for four six-footers and there's even a reasonable sized boot.
The fuel cell is one third of the weight and less than half the size of Honda's first home-grown effort in 1999 and is now so small it fits in the transmission tunnel between the front seats. Yet its output has grown from just 80bhp to a rather more meaningful 134bhp. OK, so it's not a Porsche 911 Turbo yet, but Honda reckons its performance equates to that of a normal 2.0-litre saloon and, having driven it, I'd agree. And that's enough for most. Just don't expect it to drive like one.
It still has a key, though I suspect that's simply to maintain some kind of link to a world we understand and feel comfortable in, for once you turn it you're transported into a world of blinking diodes, distant whizzes and acceleration achieved without apparent mechanical effort.
Like all cars powered by electricity, the FCX doesn't need to wait for the right revs to appear on the dial before it gives its best performance - it's all there, all the time, whenever you want it and for a price no bigger than the flex of a foot. It glides forward in near silence as you look out across the vast plain that is the top of the dashboard to that far away windscreen. It's not just the power delivery that's alien, the whole car appears to come from another world too.
