Honda First to Supply a Fuel Cell Vehicle to Private Firm

One of Japan's leading automakers, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., became the world's first automaker to supply a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) to a private corporation, delivering a Honda FCX to Iwatani International Corporation in July 2003. Since December 2002, when the first FCX fuel cell vehicles were delivered to owners in Japan and the U.S., Honda has delivered three vehicles in Japan, one each to the national government's Cabinet Office, Ministry of the Environment, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and three vehicles to the City of Los Angeles in the U.S.

Iwatani, Japan's top domestic hydrogen manufacturer, has been developing hydrogen refueling facilities in cooperation with Honda. The delivery of this latest FCX fuel cell vehicle represents an important step forward in the process of gathering information and developing technology for both FCVs and the hydrogen energy
infrastructure needed for their for their introduction to a mass market.

The FCX utilizes Honda's independently-developed energy storage system. The vehicle has room for four adults in a spacious interior and a compact body that maintains a high level of safety performance in collisions from all directions. Honda initially plans a limited market release of about 30 vehicles over the next two or three years in Japan and the U.S.


http://world.honda.com/news/2003/4030715.html

Posted: 2003/09/27 11:51:50 AM
Japanese version