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)

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly likes to look green when new cars are displayed. I remember the excitement when he arrived at the unveiling of the Tesla Roadster back in the summer of 2006. Sometimes, of course, the Governator's green sheen is less glorious, like with the GM flex-fuel vehicles controversy. But, at the LA Auto Show this week, Governor Schwarzenegger was happy to visit the Volkswagen booth to check out the new space up! blue concept car.

Also at the VW booth, Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen of America, Inc., discussed more about what VW plans to do with clean diesels in the U.S. in the near future. As AutoblogGreen readers probably know, VW will bring clean diesel TDI engines to all 50 states, starting with the Jetta Sedan and Jetta SportWagen. The release date for the Jetta TDI was recently pushed back to summer 2008.



[Source: Volkswagen]

Shane wrote about the CNG powered American Roadster last week and it is indeed an odd bird. The long-nosed, three-wheeler has unique styling, but its creator John Green claims it has amazing handling and stability. The Roadster is available with a choice of two natural gas-fueled engines, an air-cooled four cylinder boxer engine that looks vaguely familiar to the ones that used to power a certain German small car. The other option is a water-cooled three cylinder. We came across Mr. Green at the LA Auto Show and had a chance to talk to him about his creation. You can listen to the conversation here.

Alongside the debut of the 2009 FCX Clarity, Honda also showed off the latest fourth generation version of their Home Energy Station (HES). The concept of the HES is to provide a self-contained unit to use a home's natural gas supply to heat the house, heat water, produce electricity and fuel a hydrogen car. The HES unit includes a steam reformer system to produce hydrogen from the gas, and a fuel cell of its own to provide electricity for the home. According to Honda's Stephen Ellis, using this system to generate hydrogen and fuel an FCX can reduce total well-to-wheel CO₂ emissions by sixty percent compared to an equivalent gasoline-fueled car. Such a system is unlikely to be ready for home use before the middle of the next decade at the earliest, but if and when it does become practical it could provide a viable way to mitigate the problem of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure.

[Source: Honda]

Click on the Lohrner-Porsche for a high-res gallery

While most people think of Toyota and Honda as the pioneers of hybrid power-train technology, the idea actually goes back many decades before either company existed. The man behind the all-wheel drive Auto Union Grand Prix cars of the 1930s got his start in the auto business before the turn of the twentieth century. Ferdinand Porsche's first car designs were actually electric vehicles with the world's first hub motors. The limitations of battery technology (where have we heard that one before? I guess big oil was suppressing battery tech even a century ago) prompted Porsche to evolve his design into a range extended EV, creating a serial hybrid.

Sitting adjacent to the new Porsche Cayenne Hybrid at the LA Auto Show was the lone remaining example of the original Lohner-Porsche electric carriage. The hub motors on the front wheels put out 2.5 hp continuously and up to 7 hp for short bursts. That's enough for "cruising" at 10 mph with a top speed of 31 mph. The 80V 40 Ah battery could potentially give a range of up to thirty miles. After its debut in 1900, Lohner built and sold over 300 of the pioneering EVs. Porsche later also created the first all wheel drive car when he added the hub motors to the rear wheels.


[Source: Porsche]

Shortly after GM had their press conference at the LA Auto Show announcing the new Silverado hybrid and the new Tahoe and Yukon hybrids, Toyota took the wraps off the new 2008 Sequoia full-size SUV. While the big GM trucks have a hybrid system that delivers 21 mpg in the city, hybrid pioneer Toyota can only offer 14 mpg in the city from either the 4.7L or 5.7L V-8 with no prospect of a hybrid anytime soon. They will, however, offer a flex-fuel option for the first time, starting in the fall of 2008.

[Source: Toyota]

Click the Cayenne Hybrid for a high-res gallery

Joining in on the hybrid party, Porsche had the North American debut of the "upcoming" Cayenne hybrid at the LA Auto Show. Porsche has developed their hybrid system to be adaptable to a variety of platforms including the four-door Panamera that debuts in 2009. While the Cayenne uses nickel metal hydride battery like other current hybrids, Porsche is making some pretty fantastic claims about the capability of their system. The Cayenne hybrid can reportedly zip around at speeds of up to 75 mph on battery power alone. Although they would not say what the capacity of the battery is, it doesn't seem to be any larger than the one used in other vehicles of this type. It is unlikely the Cayenne can get up to 75 mph from a standstill on the battery. Instead it can probably shut off the engine at speed and "coast" on battery power for several miles maintaining speed. Porsche also wouldn't say specifically when the hybrid will launch, other than "by the end of the decade". Whether that means the end of 2009 or 2010 is also unclear. Porsche is targeting 26 mpg (US) on the EU combined cycle.

[Source: Porsche]

At the LA Auto Show today, Chrysler showed their upcoming Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen Hybrids for the first time at an auto show although it's not the first time we've seen them. We actually got to drive a prototype last June at the Chrysler Proving Ground. Chrysler is still nearly a year away from production of their first hybrids and obviously the mileage numbers are not finalized yet. But when Executive VP for product development Frank Klegon made the announcement, he said the Chrysler SUVs would get a forty percent improvement in city mileage and twenty five percent overall. Unfortunately for Chrysler, this falls short of what GM has achieved with the same two-mode hybrid system in the Tahoe/Yukon. Those vehicles managed a fifty percent bump in town and thirty plus percent overall. Hopefully between now and launch, Chrysler will manage to eek a little more.

[Source: Chrysler]

Click the Highlander for a high-res gallery

At the Los Angeles Auto Show today Toyota General Manager Bob Carter reiterated the recent story about a fuel-cell powered Highlander running 347 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Then to reinforce the durability of their system they decided to go farther on much worse roads. They took a fuel cell Highlander to Fairbanks, Alaska. Because there is no hydrogen fueling infrastructure in the area, Toyota had to get a mobile unit but these aren't allowed to operate in the US, although they can in Canada. So, the Toyota team drove 316 miles to Beaver Creek in the Yukon for their first fill up and then proceeded all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia. The Highlander covered a total of 2,300 miles over some the worst roads in North America on the Alaska Highway. Toyota has definitely demonstrated the robustness of their fuel cell system and now that they have finally revealed the size of the fuel tank we know how efficient it is. The Highlander carries 6 kg of hydrogen compressed at 10,000 psi. That compares to the 8 kg in the Chevy Sequels that went 304 miles in New York last spring.

[Source: Toyota]

At the New York Auto Show last April GM unveiled a trio of Chevrolet badged mini-cars dubbed the Beat, the Trax and the Groove. All three were designed by stylists from GM Korean studios on the companies new global mini-car platform. At the time the company launched a web-site were visitors could vote for their favorite. The bright green two door Beat got almost half of the over 1.8 million votes followed by the Groove with the Trax coming in last.

Now that the people have spoken, Chevrolet is announcing here in Los Angeles that the Beat will go into production for the world-wide market. At least the world wide market outside of the United States. When questioned, Chevrolet General Manager said that no decision has been made on selling the Beat here yet. However, earlier Bob Lutz said all new GM vehicles are being designed for global markets with the ability to be built in either right or left hand drive configurations and meet all regulations. If this applies to the Beat, it could come to the U.S. if the market warrants it. And, should a 35 mpg CAFE standard get passed, it seems highly likely that the market will demand a Beat.


[Source: General Motors]