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Honda FC Sport - A Car That Runs On Water? Joshua Brown asks: Is this the future for both hydro gen fuel cells and a greener supercar ethos?

Honda summed up their creation with these few, but inspirational words: “Imagine beat-

ing your best lap time while hearing nothing but the tires rubbing the tarmac and the quiet buzz of the high-torque electric motors. Picture a true no-holds-barred supercar with all the speed, han-dling and sleek looks of today’s fastest sports cars, yet without the noise, heat, vibration and emis-sions of the internal-combustion engine.”

The FC part of its name stands for Fuel Cell as that is what the concept of the car is all about. Some believe the most impressive aspect of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell is its ability to enable motor driven cars to keep up with supercar royalty such as Lamborghini

But what is really, really impressive is the fact that all that comes out of the exhaust is H2O. Yes that’s right people a sports car that feels, looks and runs like just like a sports car should, but at the same time emits nothing but water vapour into the atmosphere.A spokesperson for Honda, said: “We don’t think that

this is the future for sports cars, and indeed all cars, we know that it is. Here at Honda we’re committed to es-tablishing the next generation of vehicles and putting that

commitment into practice. We picture all petrol stations being turned into Hydrogen stations, like the few we already have. We believe that this is the future.” The Honda FC Sport concept car was first unveiled at

the world renowned Los Angeles auto show in 2008. In the auto world this magnificent machine was described as a cross between the Honda CRX – one of Honda’s existing sports cars – and the FCX Clarity which is Honda’s most impressive and popular Hydrogen Fuel cell car.Although it uses a very similar fuel cell to that in the

FCX Clarity the FC Sport concept is a completely differ-ent take on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The FCX Clarity is aimed at families and city slickers alike with its five door user-friendly design. Whereas the FC Sport boasts an impressive array of interior gadgetry features, a low centre of gravity and impressive top speeds. It is more likened to a sports coupe. This is evident in the position-ing of its three seats; one in the front and two in the back. It’s almost a tribute to the brilliant McLaren F1.

Aerial View: fighter jet style cockpit

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Honda FC Sport - A Car That Runs On Water? Joshua Brown asks: Is this the future for both hydro gen fuel cells and a greener supercar ethos?

“We believe that this is the future.”

The impressive design elements don’t stop there. The team at Honda’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California, have gone to town on the FC Sport’s incred-ible features. The canopy that stretches the length of the car opens in an upward motion, similar to that of a Harrier Jet. The low profile design is testament to the flexibility of

fuel cell packaging. Designers are starting to envisage a fuel cell between the rear seats, a lithium-ion battery in

the middle of the car, and an electric motor just ahead of the rear axle. This design is more impressive than any piston-powered sports car because the small Fuel Cell Stack allows for the car to retain a lower centre of grav-

ity, therefore giving it better traction and as a result an overall better handling car.

There’s no denying that this car is a work of genius. The task the Honda team have managed to overcome is as-tonishing - but the question still battles its way through: will this believed future actually become a reality?

High Power: unique electric motors