Honda expands hydrogen to include trucks, buildings

TOKYO AP - Honda is expanding the use of hydrogen to include trucks and construction equipment, electricity for buildings and even outer space, not just cars on the roads.

Honda Motor Co. plans to sell a new fuel cell vehicle next year, packed with a fuel cell stack developed by General Motors Co. of the U.S. General Manager, Testsuya Hasebe, told reporters Thursday.

He said that it will lower the cost of the fuel cell stack to a third of what it is now. Hasebe said that the costs of Honda's fuel cells will be comparable to diesel engines by the year 2030.

Arata Ichinose, its operating executive, said the fuel cell stack, which charges faster than previous versions, will be produced in Ohio and then roll out to other North American and Japan sites.

All the world s automakers, including Tesla, are coming up with electric vehicles and those that run on fuel cells and hybrid systems that switch back and forth between a gas engine and a green technology.

Fuel cells are powered by hydrogen and are emissions-free.

Hasebe, who oversees the development of the hydrogen business at Honda said that fuel cells are efficient in producing energy and so they are a good emission-free solution compared to electric batteries.

Honda was one of the pioneers in fuel cells, showing a prototype car in 1998 and its first market product in 2002.

Honda plans to provide its fuel stack to JAXA or Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the nation s equivalent of NASA. Honda is partnering with Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors and has begun testing with Dongfeng Motor in China. This month Honda s fuel cell provided electricity to a Honda site in the U.S.

Honda's announcement on fuel cells shows how Japanese automakers have been insisted on working on various solutions to climate change, not just electric vehicles.