Companies

Honda to Launch Plug-in Fuel Cell Vehicle in Summer

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Honda’s new FCV model “CR-V e:FCEV”

Jiji Press

14:33 JST, February 28, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday that it will launch a plug-in fuel cell vehicle in Japan this summer.

Honda will become the first Japanese automaker to release an FCV model featuring a plug-in charging function, the company said.

The CR-V e:FCEV can be recharged at home or on the go. It will be based on the CR-V, Honda’s mainstay SUV model sold in countries including the United States and China. The price of the new vehicle model has yet to be determined.

It will adopt a fuel cell system jointly developed by Honda and U.S. auto giant General Motors Co.

The CR-V e:FCEV can travel at least 600 kilometers on a full tank of hydrogen and over 60 kilometers on a single battery charge. It can also supply electricity for microwaves and other electronic devices outdoors.

FCVs are powered by electricity generated from chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen in the air. Filling hydrogen tanks for FCVs takes less time than charging batteries for electric vehicles. But the number of hydrogen stations is limited in Japan.