Honda CR-V FCEV due in 2024: report

A REPORT published by US outlet Automotive News suggests Honda will use a new hydrogen fuel cell system developed jointly with General Motors in its US-built CR-V SUV from as early as next year.

To be produced in Ohio, the CR-V fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is expected to launch in the United States and Japan by the end of 2024, with Honda executives telling Automotive News that the company has been able to cut the cost of the next-generation system to one-third that of the system used in its previous FCEV offering, the 2016 Clarity.

Durability of the system is said to have been doubled and that low-temperature performance is boosted with start-up times “significantly faster” at temperatures as low as -30ºC.

Honda and GM have been pooling resources on hydrogen fuel cell development to defray the high costs of the technology, which is seen as a critical stepping stone toward carbon neutrality goals, says Automotive News.

The Japanese manufacturer, which is currently the world’s largest producer of internal combustion engines, intends to phase out petrol powerplants by 2040 and offer only battery electric or FCEV units.

“Hydrogen will play a particularly important role in achieving carbon neutrality,” said Honda senior managing executive officer Shinji Aoyama.

“With this system, we have been striving for lower costs, higher durability and improved low-temperature resistance.”

From the middle of the decade, Honda said it aims to begin external sales of FCEV systems at a rate of 2000 units per annum. By the end of the decade, it plans to introduce a new generation hydrogen system that will offer further improvements over the one destined for the CR-V from next year.

It is understood the CR-V will accept home charging of its electric battery as well as hydrogen refuelling, similar to petrol-based plug-in hybrids.

According to a recent report published by Honda, the company aims to halve the cost of the FCEV system by 2030, and again double the system’s durability within that time frame.

“By 2030, Honda expects fuel cell technology to gain wider acceptance, driving deliveries to 60,000 units a year,” said Honda’s head of business development supervisory unit, Arata Ichinose.

“By the late 2030s, annual sales should hit hundreds of thousands of units.”

GoAuto understands those units will include FCEV-powered medium- and large vehicles (likely SUVs), as well as commercial models and even MPE (mobile power equipment) offerings for which the brand is highly regarded.

According to Mr Ichinose, Honda sees promise in using hydrogen fuel cells as backup power stations for cloud-computing data centres among its many applications.

Automotive News says the FCEV technology will be arriving in CR-V models from next year, the vehicles to be produced in Michigan at a fuel cell plant jointly operated by Honda and General Motors.

The vehicle itself will be assembled at Honda’s Performance Manufacturing Centre in Marysville, Ohio, where the NSX was built.