Honda
at NAIAS: Visionary or confused?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The
Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle next to the Home Fueling
Station
When it comes to hybrid
cars, currently, there are just two players: Toyota
and Honda. Yesterday, I covered my irrational
disappointment with Toyota (more).
Today, I'm going to cover my disappointment with Honda.
Unlike Toyota, Honda has nothing to lose and everything to
gain when it comes to hybrids, and Honda plans to soon
challenge the Toyota
Prius with a new hybrid. So, was this new hybrid at
NAIAS? No. In fact when I walked by Honda as I first
entered the Auto Show, I was shocked by how few cars Honda
had on the floor the first day - I think it was 4 or maybe
5.
At NAIAS, Honda had one message about the future: Fuel
Cell Vehicles.
About one third of Honda's floor space was dedicated to
the Honda
Clarity fuel cell vehicle, an amazing vehicle and my
pick for the best
of the LA Auto Show. The Clarity is a remarkable car
and it embodies a revolutionary dream - the hydrogen
economy. Still, it seems obvious that the hydrogen economy
has serious obstacles, too many obstacles to wager the
future.
Yet, Honda isn't afraid. Why?
Is Honda just playing coy? Is Honda fully prepared for
lithium, for plug-in
hybrid vehicles if the battery technology develops, or
does Honda really believe that fuel cell vehicles make
electric vehicles unnecessary in most markets?
I don't know, but what I do know is that Honda has been a
terribly successful automaker, and Honda's history
demonstrates that betting against them isn't a very wise
move. Something must be going on at Honda. Either Honda is
slipping a bit, or Honda is onto something that the
automaker cannot fully express just yet, and I'm left
feeling very, very intrigued by Honda's future.
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