Honda has revealed it will launch a production fuel cell vehicle in Europe in the second half of 2016.
The new FCV will go on sale in Japan first in March 2016 and then US and European markets will follow.
Honda believes hydrogen as a high-potential, next-generation energy carrier due to the fact that hydrogen can be generated from various energy sources and is easily transportable and storable.
The FCV uses electricity generated through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen as a power source for the motor. It has a range of approximately 435 miles and the hydrogen tank can be refilled in less than three minutes.
The fuel-cell powertrain on the FCV is small enough to be contained under the bonnet of the car which Honda says leaves room for five adults. Honda is also confident it has got the size of the technology down so it can introduce it across other model ranges in the future.
The Japanese brand joins Toyota and Hyundai as manufacturers pushing hydrogen as an alternative fuel in the UK. Hyundai will launch its first ix35 fuel cell cars to customers early next year.
Toyota has also revealed its Mirai which will go on sale in the UK in September 2015.
The Government revealed in October that it is injecting £11 million to support hydrogen transport in the UK in order to expand the nationwide hydrogen refuelling station network and is expecting to have 15 public stations open before the end of this year. There are further plans to expand the network to 65 hydrogen filling stations.
Of the £11m fund, £2.5 million will go to public sector fleets to encourage adoption of around 40 fuel cell vehicles in major cities.
Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: “By 2040 all new cars and vans will be ultra-low emission vehicles and this could be delivered by a variety of technologies, including plug-in hybrids, pure EVsand hydrogen.
“We want to ensure that support is there for all of these vehicles and that the UK continues to lead the pack in providing the right infrastructure to drive the switch to electric.”
