Honda Clarity Burns Hydrogen, Emits Only Water: Jason H. Harper

Here's a good article from Bloomberg.com with some information on the Honda FCX Clartiy....
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- It’s not every day that you get to kick the wheels on the car of tomorrow. After all, the question of what will power future automobiles is a guessing game, with candidates ranging from electricity and compressed natural gas to hydrogen fuel cells.

Honda made an expensive bet in that guessing game by designing the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity. It’s costly (perhaps $500,000 each to produce), yet the sedan emits only water.

Both Honda and Chevy are testing fuel-cell vehicles by making them available for lease by select customers. Hydrogen’s big upside is its cleanliness and ability to be produced from many sources, even water and human waste.

Fuel-cell stacks are akin to mini power stations in which the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen is converted into electricity, which then powers an electric motor. Since hydrogen is a gas, it’s stored under pressure in reinforced tanks.

There are big hurdles to clear because the technology is expensive and an entire hydrogen refueling infrastructure will need to be created. (Honda’s previous FCX, first delivered in 2002, cost about $1 million each to produce. Executives are coy but say the Clarity costs about half that.)

I pick up the Clarity in Manhattan with the intent of driving it dry, as I’m curious about the refueling process itself. Is it complicated?

I turn the key, push the start button and the center gauges soon turn blue, indicating it’s ready to drive. Like a hybrid or electric car, there’s no start-up noise.

I motor into traffic, trying not to ignore the fact that while the Clarity is as exotic and expensive as an Italian supercar, nobody else -- including errant yellow taxis -- knows this. Best to avoid fender benders.

Refueling Station

I’m on my way to Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles away. There I will find Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and its hydrogen refilling station. The Clarity has a range of 190 miles of highway driving, 280 of combined city/freeway. (Like hybrids, fuel-cell vehicles get better mileage in town, at slow speeds with less wind resistance.) A full tank is just enough for one back-and-forth trip.

In the Clarity’s case, hydrogen is delivered as pressurized gas, and one kilogram is roughly equivalent to one gallon of gas. Over 200 miles in the day, I average 55 miles per “gallon.” Yet the tank only holds about four kilograms of hydrogen, and if you run out, a flatbed truck is in your immediate future.

Only in California

The Clarity has its own production line, which over the next three years will put out some 200 cars. Only Southern California customers are currently getting them since the state has the most hydrogen stations. Customers are pre-vetted, and leases cost $600 a month for three years, including maintenance and insurance. (So far, only a few have been delivered.) Honda is obviously not making money on the project, but it does suggest a certain seriousness.

New York won’t see the Clarity soon. General Motors Corp., though, is offering its fuel-cell Chevy Equinox SUV at no cost to some 100 drivers in New York, Southern California and Washington, D.C. New York drivers can use a Shell station in White Plains.

The Clarity was expressly designed as a fuel-cell vehicle, and the result is an elegant and handsome four-door sedan. With no big engine in the front, the hood and overhang are quite short and offset by a raked windshield. The Clarity is basically one long swoop, with a high back trunk to minimize air drag. Futuristic, though not aggressively so.

Easy Handling

I’m surprised to find that it drives just about like any other Honda. It’s easy to negotiate in traffic, handles nicely and doesn’t feel especially sluggish. Nor did I have any problem keeping up with fast traffic on the highway.

It looks like a real car, too. The test version has a metallic burgundy paint job, attractive wheel rims and an interior that would make an Acura proud, with GPS navigation, cooled and heated seats and tons of room.

Electronic gauges monitor gas mileage, hydrogen levels and range, and how much power is recaptured while braking (a technology shared with hybrids). A small circle at the center expands and contracts depending on how much power is being used -- an intuitive way of gauging how efficiently you’re driving.

My range is dwindling as I near Allentown, and I’m glad to find Air Products, which has some 85 hydrogen stations in 15 countries. They’re expecting me, and representatives explain the simple refueling process.

I insert a narrow hose onto a nozzle inside the car’s gas latch and then turn a locking lever. It’s a “closed system,” so the hydrogen neither leaks nor releases fumes. The pump performs a check of the pressure inside the car’s hydrogen chamber, then begins fueling.

Minutes later, I’m back on the road to New York.

No doubt hydrogen technology has a long way to go to become practical, yet if the Clarity is any indication, the actual process of driving and refueling could be a painless one.

The Honda FCX Clarity at a Glance

Engine: Fuel-cell stack and electric drive motor, with 134 horsepower and 189 pound-feet of torque.

Transmission: One-speed direct drive.

Speed: 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 10 seconds.

Gas mileage per kilogram: 77 city; 67 highway.

Best features: Emits only water but drives like a gas-fueled car.

Worst feature: The fear of running out of hydrogen and being stranded.

Target buyer: The true environmental front runner (who also lives in Southern California).

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=atizckxemqGw&refer=home#

GM, Ford May Face Bankruptcy on Slowdown, S&P Says

Well, these are some pretty intense times with how the stock market has taken a tumble, leading the way is GM and FORD. Times have not been good to either company and it is heavily reflected in how the economy has gone. A healthy domestic car sector is a healthy economy. Let's hope they can turn it around.
Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC may be forced into bankruptcy by slowing economies and dwindling U.S. auto sales, Standard & Poor's analyst Robert Schulz said.

"Macro factors could overwhelm them at some point'' even as the three biggest U.S. automakers vow to stick with their turnaround plans, Schulz, S&P's lead automotive credit analyst, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York. The companies said they have no plans for a bankruptcy filing.

His assessment underscored the pressure on GM, Ford and Chrysler as the worsening global credit crisis makes it harder for buyers to get loans and dealers to finance their operations. S&P said yesterday it may further trim credit ratings for GM and Ford on forecasts for 2009 auto demand falling to the lowest level since 1992.

With all three companies working to boost cash, any bankruptcy filing would be a last resort, not a "strategic'' decision, Schulz said.

"We don't see that as something they would choose,'' he said. Schulz said the "trigger'' for a forced restructuring under bankruptcy protection would be based on the automakers' ability to preserve liquidity as sales decline. Industrywide U.S. sales slid 27 percent last month, the most in 17 years.

'Not an Option'

"Bankruptcy is not an option GM is considering,'' spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said yesterday. "It would not be in the interests of our employees, stockholders, suppliers or customers.''

Ford and Chrysler also have said they're not considering bankruptcy.

GM rose 7 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $4.83 at 1:40 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, while Ford dropped 8 cents to $2. GM slumped to a 58-year low yesterday and Ford closed at its lowest since 1982. Chrysler is closely held.

Operating-cash needs at GM, Ford and Chrysler are "substantial, so if it looked like they were going to be pushing toward that number because of these operating losses and cash usage, that's sort of the point where they'd have to consider'' bankruptcy, Schulz said.

S&P said yesterday that its debt ratings for GM and Ford, already at six steps below investment grade at B-, may be lowered again because the automakers face a "serious challenge'' in 2009.

Barclays Capital reduced its target stock price for GM to $4 today, with analyst Brian Johnson in Chicago citing dwindling global auto demand.

GM's Cash Needs

"With auto sales stalled in the U.S. and beginning to contract in the rest of the world, we believe GM's cash needs are increasing,'' Johnson wrote in a note. "Moreover, the downside risk of greater decline in worldwide auto sales driving greater cash needs is increasing."

GM and Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford lost a combined $24.1 billion last quarter. GM last posted an annual profit in 2004, while Ford hasn't had a full-year profit since 2005.

GM's Rashid-Merem said the automaker still expects to add $15 billion in liquidity by the end of next year, including speeding up plans to cut $10 billion in costs.

Ford has a cash cushion, spokesman Mark Truby said yesterday in response to S&P's report raising the prospect of another ratings cut.

Ford's Borrowing

"We were fortunate to go to the markets at the right time,'' Truby said, referring to $23.4 billion borrowed in late 2006 to help pay for shutting plants and cutting jobs while developing new models.

He said Ford is reviewing its liquidity and will give an update when third-quarter financial results are released. Ford hasn't given a date for the release, which the company typically issues later in October.

Chrysler has no plans to declare bankruptcy, spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said yesterday in an interview.

The automakers won Congress's approval last month for funding a $25 billion loan package to help develop more fuel- efficient vehicles. Those funds will be spread primarily among Ford, GM and Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler, though other automakers, such as Volkswagen AG, have said they will seek a portion.

Regulators are writing the rules for that borrowing even as auto-market conditions worsen. Industry researcher J.D. Power & Associates estimated yesterday that U.S. industrywide sales will fall to 13.6 million this year and 13.2 million in 2009. Last year's total was 16.1 million.

Industrywide Outlook

Industrywide sales of 13 million autos next year would mean shrinkage in the overall U.S. vehicle fleet, said Erich Merkle, an analyst for consulting firm Crowe Horwath LLP in Oak Brook, Illinois.

"We are going to find people where they may have had three cars and now have two, and two cars now have one, and a lot of that is just because of the economic environment,'' Merkle said. "They may not have the ability to buy a new car and even if they do, they may not be able to get financing for that car.''

Global demand in 2009 may be even worse, with "an outright collapse'' now possible, according to J.D. Power, which is based in Westlake Village, California.

GM may announce further production cuts or plant closures as early as next week, the Associated Press reported today. GM spokesman Tony Sapienza declined to comment on the report in an interview.

In July, GM said it was considering further cuts to its metal stamping and engine plants because of reduced U.S. sales.

GM's 8.375 percent note due July 2033 fell 5.5 cents to 19 cents on the dollar today, yielding 43.9 percent, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Ford's 7.45 percent note due July 2031 declined 12 cents to 22 cents on the dollar, yielding 33.8 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, at jgreen16@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net


Below each logo is a link to the ticker for each company's stock quote in US funds.

Ford Motor Co. General Motors Corp.

Source;

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aFTJLqMhYLAs&refer=canada

Honda, Citing Battery Limits, Avoids Rush to Plug-Ins

Masaaki Kato, president of Research and Development at Honda Motor Company, stands for a photo in the company's North American headquarters in Torrance, California, on Sept. 12, 2008. Photographer: Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg News

By Alan Ohnsman

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., first to lease hydrogen autos to U.S. drivers, said batteries haven't advanced enough to make rechargeable cars a good replacement for gasoline models and isn't following rivals who plan to sell plug-ins.

"For battery-powered vehicles to become more widespread, more popular in the market, we feel battery technology needs to advance further,'' said Masaaki Kato, president of Honda's research unit, in an interview at the Tokyo-based company's U.S. headquarters. Expectations for plug-ins are big and ``we don't know that that could be sustained right now,'' he said.

Honda is bucking an industry move toward lithium-ion batteries as record-high U.S. fuel prices this year and climate change concerns over carbon dioxide push carmakers to develop alternatives to gasoline power.

General Motors Corp. sparked interest in a new generation of electric cars with its Volt, a sedan due by 2010 that will travel 40 miles solely on lithium-ion batteries before needing a recharge. Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, and No. 3 Nissan Motor Co. are also readying small electric cars powered only by batteries.

A production version of GM's plug-in Volt is to be shown tomorrow in Detroit.

"GM and Toyota are slugging it out for attention as technology leaders in this area,'' said Phil Gott, a powertrain analyst for market forecaster Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. "Honda doesn't want to get in the middle of that. They've also been fast to market with many technologies, and don't have anything to prove right now.''

'Impossible to Imagine'

Vehicles using lithium-ion power wouldn't satisfy most consumers, since such batteries are costly and still hold less than half the energy of gasoline by weight, Kato said.

"We just don't see it providing the type of driving performance you get with a gasoline-powered vehicle,'' Kato said Sept. 12 in Torrance, California, speaking through a translator.

For example, the Japanese government's advanced battery development program has a goal of boosting energy storage capacity by seven times and cutting cost to 2.5 percent of the current level, said Kato, who is also senior managing director for Japan's second-largest automaker.

"That gives you a pretty clear example of what type of gap we're facing relative to a gasoline vehicle,'' he said. "At this point, I'd say it's impossible to imagine a date at which such a breakthrough could occur.''

Refining Fuel-Cell System

While Honda may offer a plug-in at some point, for now it will continue refining the fuel-cell system in its new hydrogen- powered FCX Clarity sedan, Kato said. Based on advances the company has made with the vehicle, including improving range to 280 miles, ``we believe it's easier than battery innovation,'' Kato said.

Such a choice isn't unusual for Honda, said Michael Omotoso, powertrain analyst for market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan.

"This fits in with their reputation for conservative product decisions,'' Omotoso said. ``They opted not to offer V-8 engines and stayed out of big trucks, and they're doing well this year because they focused more on small cars.''

Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a1gUi10kXBsM

Honda considering bringing Japanese models to the U.S.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., encouraged by U.S. demand for Fit subcompacts, is reviewing its Japanese lineup for other possible imports as near-record fuel prices spark interest in cars once viewed as too small or quirky.

"There are a couple of things that we are looking at again, whether they make sense right now,'' Dan Bonawitz, Honda's U.S. vice president for corporate planning, said in an interview yesterday, without naming specific models.

The U.S. introduction of the Fit in 2006, five years after its Japan debut, is helping Honda post gains in 2008 even as a slowing economy and gasoline that topped $4 a gallon erode industrywide demand. U.S. sales of the hatchback, rated at 30 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving, jumped 73 percent through last month.

Those gains contributed to making Honda the only major automaker to expand U.S. sales this year. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are now also considering bringing in small cars designed for overseas markets.

Honda has studied the compact Stream wagon and a Japanese version of the Odyssey minivan that would be categorized as a station wagon in the U.S., Bonawitz said in an interview in Malibu, California. He declined to say whether either would be added to Honda's U.S. lineup.

The automaker is also benefiting from demand for fuel- efficient Civic small cars and four-cylinder Accords. Honda's U.S. sales have grown 3.2 percent this year, compared with an 11 percent industrywide decline through the first seven months.

The company won't rush any Japan market models to the U.S. until it's confident current U.S. patterns are likely to continue, said Bonawitz, who manages a team of U.S. product planners.
"We've got a fairly long-term product plan laid out and we're going to try to stick with that,'' Bonawitz said.

The company's U.S. headquarters are in Torrance, California.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net.