2009 Honda FCX Clarity

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The somewhat high-pitched noise, along with the sound of the drive's electric motor, takes some time getting used to, though in the FCX, it's a significant amount quieter than the screeching of earlier fuel-cell vehicles.

How many customers Honda hopes to attract when it starts leasing the FCX next year, it isn't saying. The company is "waiting to gauge the market's reaction," insists U.S. marketing chief Will Walton. Several factors suggest the initial reaction is likely to be quite positive. GM was besieged by thousands of potential users of the fuel-cell Equinox, which is will loan out for three-month stints starting in early 2008. And the special Honda FCX Web site has crashed several times from all the demand, since the automaker announced the lease program at the L.A. Auto Show last week.

Though final details haven't been released, the basics are simple: customers will pay $600 a month, over the course of three-year leases, a figure including both maintenance and insurance.

All well and good, but what about the hydrogen? Under pressure from the state, the auto industry has been flooding the California market with hydrogen prototypes, and that's encouraging the development of a real service-station infrastructure. It also helps that there's a ready supply of the gas, which is produced for the various refineries that dot the Southern California coast.

Honda officials expect as many as 30 hydrogen pumps to be available next year. The fuel should cost about $5 a kilogram, meanwhile, so on a per-mile basis, the FCX will actually prove more affordable than comparably-sized sedans (except, perhaps, the Prius). Refueling times, of about five minutes are similar to what it takes to fill up an empty gasoline tank.

While the first Clarity sedans will be leased in the L.A. area, Honda officials would like to extend the experiment to other parts of the country. While they declined to discuss firm plans, we would expect to see the lease program expand to Washington, D.C., and even the New York City area, if things go well. That would certainly give a better sense for how the FCX would operate in winter weather.

Would we drive an FCX? Absolutely. In fact, if we can convince Honda to deliver one to Detroit , we hope to offer an even more in-depth review, sometime in the near future. The Clarity may not be the future, but it's certainly pointing in that direction.

2009 Honda FCX Clarity

Base price: Three-year lease, $600/month

Engine: Fuel cell and 288-volt lithium battery, 134 hp/189 lb-ft

Transmission: Direct-drive electric motor, front-wheel drive

Length x width x height: 190.3 x 72.7 x 57.8 in

Wheelbase: 110.2 in

Curb weight: 3582 lb

Fuel economy (EPA city/hwy): 68 mpg combined EPA cycle (est.)

Major standard features: Power windows/locks/mirrors; AM/FM/CD/XM/MP3 audio system with iPod input and steering wheel-mounted audio controls; dual-zone climate control; remote keyless entry; tilt/telescope steering wheel; alloy wheels; voice-operated navigation; active (radar-guided) cruise control

Safety features: Anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control; dual front, side and curtain airbags; tire pressure monitors

Warranty: All maintenance provided during three-year lease

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