TORRANCE, Calif., -- Almost everyone has been focusing on hybrids but Honda and others are determined to show that there are a number of technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells, that need to be among the "green" choices in our driving future.
They’ve enlisted celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis, who took delivery of a pre-production vehicle on July 31, 2008, to be a part of a program to help Honda make the case for their hydrogen fuel cell powered FCX Clarity.
Curtis and husband Christopher Guest are the second of approximately 200 customers who will begin leasing the vehicle in the United States and Japan over the next three years.
"I really wasn't expecting it to be so luxurious," said Curtis. "It's luxurious, luxurious, luxurious! I love the interior layout, design and access to controls. It is user-friendly and very modern."
Actress and children's book author Curtis and her husband, filmmaker Guest, have owned other alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles and continue to seek out ways to live and advocate a greener lifestyle.
Before Curtis and Guest got theirs, Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester, Santa Monica residents, took delivery of the first FCX Clarity a few days earlier on July 25, 2008.
The FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle. Significant advances over Honda's previous generation FCX include a 25 percent increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg-H2* (74 mpg GGE < miles per gasoline gallon equivalent >) and a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles*. Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell, the vehicle's only by-products are heat and water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile, according to Honda.
“The FCX Clarity lease program is one more step toward meeting the societal goals of climate stability, renewable energy supplies and zero-emissions transportation," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. "With this key step, we are advancing toward the goal of broader commercialization," Mendel added. "Establishing a dedicated sales network and service infrastructure provides customers with the best balance of convenience and the highest level of satisfaction."
*Based on official 2008 EPA mileage estimates. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.
For more information on the FCX Clarity lease program, please visit http://fcx.honda.com
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