Honda starts production of fuel cell car

Tokyo-based Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC) started commercial production of its new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle today, the FCX Clarity.

The automaker said the midsize sedan is being rolled out at its factory in Takanezawa-machi where a new dedicated fuel cell vehicle assembly line was established.

"This is an important day in the history of fuel cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream," said John Mendel, executive VP of American Honda.

"Our customers and dealers share in our vision for a cleaner and more sustainable transportation future, and share in our challenge to embrace a new generation of automotive technology that we think will carry the auto industry and its customers into the future."

A limited number of the fuel cell cars will initially be available in southern California, with the vehicles coming out in Japan later this year.

Honda said the FCX Clarity was designed from scratch as a dedicated fuel cell vehicle, powered by a Honda V Flow fuel cell stack.

The company is producing the fuel cell stacks at its Honda Engineering facility in Haga-machi.

Honda said lease sales are scheduled to begin in July in the U.S. and this fall in Japan, with the combined sales plan for Japan and the U.S. calling for a few dozen units within a year and about 200 units within three years.

Some Hollywood celebrities are among the car's early adopters, with Honda saying that actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her filmmaker husband Christopher Guest are set to grab one of the first vehicles to come off the assembly line today.