Honda's hydrogen-fueled car coming to California

honda

Honda will be leasing a limited number of its FCX Clarity sedans in California this upcoming summer. The cars use hydrogen fuel cells that’ll be topped off via a "home fueling station that uses a home’s existing natural gas supply to produce hydrogen."

The $600 per month lease payment might seem a bit high but for someone that does a lot of driving and has to purchase gas all the time, this car might be able to save some money in the long run. General Motors also said that it’ll be putting 100 similar cars into play in California, New York, and Washington, D.C. next year.

On the other hand, Ford’s president says that "his company is at least 10 years away from offering a fuel-cell car on the market, in part because Ford is concerned about the safety of the highly flammable lithium-ion batteries used in the vehicles."

Yeah, Ford’s been doing pretty well lately. Two major competitors beat it to the punch by ten years so Ford claims the cars are unsafe. Looking good, Ford.

Honda to lease fuel cell cars in Calif. [BusinessWeek/AP]