Japanese car manufacturer Honda, has begun commercial production of a zero emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle that is said to offer three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional petrol powered car.

The FCX Clarity was designed from scratch as a dedicated fuel cell vehicle. It is powered by the Honda V Flow fuel cell stack, and will be produced at the Honda Automobile New Model Center, on a new dedicated fuel cell vehicle assembly line. This includes processes unique to a fuel cell vehicle such as the installation of the fuel stack and hydrogen tank.

The fuel cell stack will be produced separately at Honda Engineering Co. In manufacturing fuel cells, exclusively designed automated equipment was introduced to ensure high quality, and to enable the mass production of cells, as each fuel stack requires several hundred fuel cells.

Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars over the next three years. One of the biggest obstacles preventing the wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.

Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars over the next three years. The first five of these are for customers based in South-Carolina – where hydrogen fuelling stations are in close proximity.