In this second part of our chat with Honda's Stephen Ellis we continue our discussion of the Honda Home Energy Station and get into the costs and practicality of hydrogen as a fuel. Read part one here.

ABG: What kind of efficiency are you are looking at right now for the Home Energy Station? How long does it take to produce how much hydrogen? How efficient is the process? How would the cost of operating such a device compared to what we use today?

SE: I think Home Energy Station puts into perspective that here we are now removing the tail pipe from the equation of emissions and now looking to the upstream. So whether it is the energy to charge an electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid or to fuel any other car we have to look to the upstream.

Home Energy Station is a research project still that is targeting these efficiencies such that we have this near 50 percent CO₂ reduction on a well-to-wheel basis when matched with hydrogen fuel cell car. And that is again taking advantage of these efficiencies. Today, using steam methane reformation of making hydrogen from natural gas in these large plants, we have shown this graphically that we have over 50 percent CO₂ reduction when combined with the FCX. This new FCX using that same process now will moves that to 60 percent. So that's a step in the right direction.

(Q&A continues after the jump)

Following the unveiling of the new Honda FCX Clarity at the recent LA Auto Show, I sat down for another chat with Stephen Ellis. Steve is the Marketing manager for alternative fuel programs at Honda of America. We discussed the new car, Honda's Home Energy Station and hydrogen cost and availability.

AutoblogGreen: Let's talk a little bit about what, if anything, aside from the front end has changed from the concept. Are there any major mechanical changes from the concept or is it basically the same as what we drove last year.

Stephen Ellis: Mechanically they are same except, I think, the interior is well-appointed, a completely finished interior. Also now you are seeing that it has the climate controlled seats with heating and ventilation cooling built-in.

ABG: You are going to start series production of this vehicle next summer. It is going to be available at least initially in Southern California, Los Angeles area based on availability of hydrogen refilling stations. Once more stations become available, will the availability of the vehicle be expanded?

SE: That is the idea is that we look long and hard at this, if you think about two years ago when we were doing a lot of planning, the idea was that we would a few more stations, both in volume and what you call accessibility.

(Q&A continues after the break)