Honda FCV Clarity shown at Tokyo Motor Show

The Honda FCV Clarity has been revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show, with the production-ready fuel cell car set to go on sale in its home market of Japan next March.

The Japanese manufacturer has already confirmed that sales of the hydrogen fuel cell-powered car are also planned in the US and Europe with sales in the UK scheduled to start in 2017.

The successor to Honda's first Hydrogen fuel cell-powered model, the FCX Clarity, the FCV was last seen as an early-stage concept at the 2013 LA motor show. A second prototype model was then unveiled in Japan last year.

Drive for the FCV comes from an electric motor which is capable of providing more than 134bhp, while power density has been increased by 60% over that of the FCX. The fuel stack size has also been reduced by 33%. 

Honda has previously claimed the FCV is the first car of its type to feature the entire fuel cell powertrain packaged within the engine bay.

The firm says the FCV will provide a driving range of 435 miles/700km, and can be refuelled with hydrogen in as little as three minutes. In Japanese specification, the FCV is also capable of supplying electricity to homes to act as an emergency generator.

Honda recently opened its own hydrogen filling station in Swindon. The solar-powered facility is capable of producing 20 tonnes of hydrogen per year, and is aimed at kick-starting an infrastructure for hydrogen-powered cars in this country, as part of the government's UKH2Mobility scheme.

The FCV will face competition from the Toyota Mirai, as well as Hyundai's hydrogen-powered ix35.

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