Eco cars could be made at Honda (From Swindon Advertiser)

Eco cars could be made at Honda

8:10pm Tuesday 14th September 2010 in News

ZERO-carbon Hondas powered by hydrogen could one day be built in Swindon, sources at the motor manufacturer have suggested.

Speculation about the town’s potential as a maker of eco-vehicles was triggered when a Honda FCX Clarity – the world’s first production fuel cell car – made its first appearance in the UK with a photo opportunity outside Number 10 Downing Street yesterday.

Business Secretary Vince Cable and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne had the chance to take a closer look at the Clarity, and even take it for a spin.

The car will also be seen later in the week at LCV 2010 – a national event for low carbon vehicles in Bedfordshire.

Honda has described zero emission hydrogen fuel cells as “ultimately the long-term solution” to the challenge of finding an alternative to the internal combustion engine, because as well as emitting no harmful exhaust gases – producing only water as a by-product – they are said to offer a good driving range, a short refuelling time and a flexible layout and design.

There are currently just two FCX Clarity cars in Europe – both of which were built in Japan, which along with the US is considered to be more developed in terms of the infrastructure required to support the technology.

The Clarity is not expected to come to market in the UK for 10 to 15 years because there are currently so few places to refuel them.

But its designers want to showcase the car here to raise awareness of the technology among key decision makers.

A Honda source told the Advertiser: “It’s there – a real car, but we need the infrastructure to support the development of these cars. There are currently only two or three refuelling stations in the UK and very few in Europe, so this is at trial stages. In America and Japan [where there are 20 such Hondas on the road] they are developing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure at a faster rate.

“It would be a fantastic thing for Swindon if we were to build this car in the town – one day, who knows? This could be the future of cars in the town, and we are committed to the technology, but it’s hard to say when it could happen and I wouldn’t even want to guess.”

The source added: “At the moment there are no plans to bring this car to market in the UK. We want to show that the technology works, and encourage the development of zero emission cars.”