Hydrogen cars in the 'hood

The Spallino's will provide Honda engineers with data on real-world driving experience about the FCX.

Honda is hailing a California couple and their two children as the world's first hydrogen fuel-cell family.

Jon and Sandy Spallino will use a hydrogen-powered Honda FCX hatchback as the family runabout for two years, in a lease deal the Japanese carmaker describes as an "historic achievement in the evolution of the automobile and the advancement of future transportation technology".

It is the first of several FCX vehicles Honda will lease to individual American customers over the next 12 months. Honda already leases a handful of FCX hatchbacks to utility companies.

Toyota's hydrogen-powered Highlander sports utility vehicles have been in the hands of individuals since 2002 when the president of a California electronics company leased the first one.

General Motors and DaimlerChrysler have fuel-cell demonstrators, but only in company test fleets.

The Spallinos say they will use the FCX every day. "I'm looking forward to commuting to work and running the kids around in the FCX," said Jon Spallino. "We're really excited about the opportunity to lease this car. The FCX drives just like any other vehicle on the road - without the emissions."

The Spallinos' experience with the FCX will provide Honda engineers with data on real-world driving experience.

"It will be invaluable as we design future models,"said John Mendel, senior vice-president of automotive operations for American Honda.

"We're pleased to be taking this historic step forward in the further advancement of our fuel-cell programme.

"With this announcement, Honda furthers its commitment to the continued advancement of this technology for the benefit of society, with the ultimate goal of achieving large-scale commercialisation of fuel-cell vehicles."

The Spallino family, living in Los Angeles, will be among the first individuals to use California's "Hydrogen Highway" refuelling stations, a state-wide infrastructure expected to be finished by 2010. The FCX is certified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California's Air Resources Board (CARB) as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV).

Honda says the FCX was the first fuel-cell vehicle to be listed in the EPA's fuel economy guide. It carries a fuel economy rating of around 3.7 litres/100km, or around 60mpg, and a range of 300km. It remains efficient at temperatures as low as -4deg.

The announcement came as Americans voiced support for a "moon shot" effort to develop a hydrogen economy.

A nationwide poll found that reducing dependence on foreign oil was a priority for Americans, who give much less credit to America's carmakers versus their Japanese counterparts when it comes to meeting that challenge. The survey was released at a meeting of the Washington Automotive Press Association by Elizabeth Lowery, GM vice-president for environment and energy.

"The survey shows broad support for continued partnership between government and industry in the development of a hydrogen economy, an effort that GM has been aggressively pursuing with the US Department of Energy and numerous corporate and research partners," Lowery said.

"But while the survey shows that Americans support the same goals that are at the heart of GM's overall advanced technology strategy for improving efficiency, it's troubling what little credit we're getting.

"Clearly we've got our work cut out for us in communicating GM's accomplishments and our commitment to developing advanced technologies."

When asked what the most important goal of US energy policy should be, 43 per cent of respondents said "reducing dependence on foreign oil" - much higher than "improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles" (20 per cent), "reducing pollution and harmful emissions" (19 per cent) and "keeping fuel costs low" (15 per cent).

When asked the main reason why carmakers need to develop alternative technologies, 49 per cent cited "energy independence" compared with 29 per cent who cited "environmental" reasons and 17 per cent who cited "economic" reasons.

Almost 80 per cent of those polled described advances in automotive technology as "absolutely critical" or "very important".

About 65 per cent believe that the US Government should make a major funding commitment to transform the auto industry from a petrol- and diesel-based system to a hydrogen-based system.

Fifty-nine per cent identified hydrogen-powered vehicles as those with the best chance for long-term success, compared with 23 per cent for hybrids and 18 per cent for traditional petrol-powered engines.

The poll revealed that there was a major gap between public perceptions of the efforts of America's Big Three carmakers to develop energy-efficient vehicles and their actual record and accomplishments in this area.

GM and Ford were named most often as the carmakers doing the worst job developing energy-efficient vehicles, and Toyota and Honda were named most often as doing the best job.

New Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe boosted popular opinion when he asked his engineers to develop a car that could travel across the US on one tank of fuel.

That means fuel economy of about 330km on just over 1 litre of fuel, or around 200mpg.

Said Watanabe: "To realise this dream, I intend to vigorously promote research and development activities."

Toyota and Honda have been selling fuel-saving petrol-electric hybrids in the US for about five years, while Detroit's carmakers began only last year, when Ford sold its first Escape hybrid SUV.

Lowery said there was a "perception gap" and cited GM's US$1 billion ($1.48 billion) hydrogen fuel-cell research, its petrol-electric hybrid buses, and full-size hybrid sports utility vehicles due in early 2006 as evidence of the carmaker's commitment to more fuel-efficient and cleaner vehicles.

Ford scored poorly even though it is the first Detroit carmaker to field a hybrid. It is putting another on sale later this year instead of waiting until next.