Hydrogen Fuel: Honda FCX Clarity Sedan

Honda unveiled the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show, and an announced that a limited number of southern Californians will have the opportunity to lease one next summer. This is the first time a customer can obtain a fuel cell car directly from a retail dealer. The company is also showing progress with the creation of a hydrogen home fueling station.

A lease on the Honda FCX Clarity will cost $600 per month, including service, maintenance, and collision insurance. The term on the lease will be three-years.

In terms of appearances, the futuristic four-door Clarity will closely resemble the FCX concept, aside from some minor front-end design modifications. The Clarity will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell stack—running along the car’s center tunnel between the front seats—that generates electricity but produces zero exhaust emissions at the tailpipe. Functional improvements in the FCX Clarity over the previous concept model include a 20 percent increase in fuel economy, a 30 percent increase in vehicle range to 270 miles, and an advanced new lithium-ion battery pack that is 40 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller.

Hydrogen fuel-cell: Honda FCX Clarity

For a nearly a generation, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have been championed as the long-term solution to auto emissions. Vehicles like the Honda FCX Clarity and the Chevrolet Equinox have brought that dream a little bit closer to reality. But the BMW Hydrogen 7 steers through the hydrogen highway in a different direction—because it isn’t a fuel-cell vehicle at all.

Instead of using hydrogen to generate electricity in a fuel cell, the BMW Hydrogen 7— essentially a 7 Series sedan—burns hydrogen in its conventional V-12 engine. And it can switch to straight gasoline at the driver’s whim. Think of it as a dual-fuel gasoline-hydrogen hybrid. A full tank of liquid hydrogen will grant a vehicle range of more than 125 miles. Add a full tank of gasoline for another 300 miles of interstate driving. Put those two together and the BMW Hydrogen 7 can drive about 450 miles on a full supply of fuel.

Whether using an engine or fuel cell, burning hydrogen produces only water vapor at the tailpipe. But the Hydrogen 7 faces a number of obstacles that fuel-cell vehicles—already challenged enough—don’t have to consider.

Sedan Hybrid: Lexus LS 600h L

If solar panels on Al Gore’s 20-room mansion and Vanity Fair’s 300-page annual green issue make you feel queasy about the eco-chic spin on our sustained environmental and energy crisis, then the Lexus LS 600h L might make you feel downright nauseous.

The Top 10 list of why the Lexus LS 600h L is the most bizarre and misguided hybrid:

1. A hybrid powertrain on a 5-liter V8 engine.
2. 430 horsepower (equivalent of 6-liter V12).
3. City/highway mileage rating in the low 20s.
4. 70-percent cleaner emissions than the “cleanest” of its V8 competitors.
5. Noise and vibration levels are about half of conventional cars. (“This is the kind of vehicle that travels slightly detached from the road, the local environment, and anyone else that doesn’t have a near 7-digit income,” writes Art Vatsky in AutoBlogGreen.)
6. Since you can’t hear anything outside the cabin, the vehicle uses two-cameras and a radar system to detect approaching objects and humans. A third camera mounted on the steering column monitors if the driver’s head is turned to the side. If a car, object, or pedestrian gets too close, the “advanced pre-collision system” alerts the driver with a chime and a flashing light.
7. Each vehicle is hand-sanded twice during the painting process.
8. Lexus aims to sell 1,200 to 2,000 units in the U.S. (Is this profitable for Lexus?)
9. Starts at $104,000. (At this price, you could buy four Priuses, keep one for yourself, and give three away as cute gifts).
10. The Lexus LS600h L is an amazing showcase of Lexus’s creativity and technological sophistication—all applied to a vehicle that is completely out-of-step with our times.

If any of our more affluent readers are thinking about the Lexus LS600 L, by all means, have some fun. But don’t kid yourself that you are doing anything to help the world.