Automotive Engineering - May 2023 - 37

HONDA FUEL CELLS FEATURE
The hydrogen fuel cell
station is serving as a
backup power source for
Honda's data center.
The new stationary power station
repurposes fuel cell stacks from Honda's Clarity FCV.
reliable again. So, we're improving the performance and reducing
cost dramatically.
energy in an area to a group of homes.
Clean energy created in a neighborhood because
you are using the excess renewable energy from solar
or wind or other sources; hydro if you are living near
the Columbia River. It depends upon what is available
and what makes sense in that area. But hydrogen can
act as a battery because you can produce it with lowvalue
electricity and then you've got it whenever you
need it. It can be used like an energy store.
What does a system like that [the Honda installation]
cost?
We're not talking cost.
Is it less expensive than battery backup from solar
panels, for a house for instance?
We can't compare it to that yet. But what I can give
you is some dimensionless comparisons just for a
sense of scale. Just for a sense of direction, our next
generation fuel cell system, the one in the Honda CR-V
we will sell about a year from now [early 2024] will
cost about two-thirds less and be twice as reliable as
the fuel cells in this system from the Clarity.
The generation we bring to market at the end of
this decade will be half-again that cost and twice as
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
If I had a Ford F-150 Lightning, I could plug it into my house in times
of emergency. Could I plug a Clarity into my house?
We're a little early to talk about it, but probably not a whole house
yet. But theoretically, yes. We'll share more detail about how we are
approaching that as we get closer to the launch of the CR-V plug-in
FCEV early in 2024. There are exciting new features coming that will
contribute to people's lives in new ways. We have to wait until closer
to next year to talk about that.
Are you planning on producing hydrogen using electrolysis?
No. What we are trying to do is create an ecosystem with partners.
We don't want to, short term, enter the hydrogen-production business.
We want to create demand that makes it an attractive investment
for others to do. We have invested in First Element Fuels as a
hydrogen distributor now. We haven't tackled the hydrogen-production
challenge yet - it needs to be addressed. We're focused
more on the solutions and working with partners who will help us
deliver 'green' H2 ideally, but we are not creating the technology for
production yet.
Perhaps hydrogen is a more realistic solution than batteries.
Batteries have come a long way. Charging will improve as we get to
350-volt systems. We will increase the throughput of the charging
systems and improve the battery technology so that it can receive
energy faster. It's getting better - but it's still not good enough.
There are some very promising technologies. We're working on solidstate
batteries that are highly recyclable, with faster charging times
and better energy density, but that's still down the road.
May 2023 37
FROM LEFT: HONDA; DINKEL
Automotive Engineering - May 2023

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