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Who can really claim first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle delivery in US?

Last month, Hyundai said that the initial deliveries of the Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles in California meant that, "For the first time, retail consumers can now put a mass-produced, federally-certified hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in their driveways." But try telling that to Jon Spallino. In 2005, Honda leased a hydrogen fuel cell FCX, a small hatchback, to the Spallino family (as far as we know, he parked it in his driveway). The company did the same thing again in 2008 with the FCX Clarity, a sleek new design based on the FCX Concept, and others signed for the H2 ride as well, including celebrities. No matter how you slice it, Honda has been in the fuel cell delivery market for almost a decade now. Just look at this. Or this. Or this. Oh, and other automakers (General Motors in Project Driveway in 2006 and Mercdes-Benz with the F-Cell in 2010, for example) have delivered fuel cell vehicles in the US as part of short-term test programs. But let's get back to Hyundai's claim. There's little question that the first delivery of a "fuel cell vehicle for the US market" has already taken place (and they were federally certified, too), which means that the debate revolves around the definition of mass-produced and whether "mass production" is about a number or about the process? Let's investigate below. First, lets review Honda's bona fides. We can start with the official version of Honda's fuel cell history, which is missing the pertinent detail that Honda build the Clarity on a dedicated assembly line and established a small network of three dealerships to lease the FCX Clarity in 2008. All of the FCX Clarity vehicles in customer hands in the US were leased through these dealerships. Sure, Honda started with hand-built stacks in its hydrogen vehicles, but went to automated control of some parts and components with series production. "It is good to see others doing today what we've been doing since 2008" – Steve Ellis, Honda Or, as Honda's Steve Elllis put it to AutoblogGreen regarding Hyundai's fuel cell deliveries: "This was exactly as prescribed by the creation of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. It's the very essence of 'co-op-itition.' We at Honda, as do many others, continue to push forward on many technologies, both the battery and the fuel cell. And society is the beneficiary." Then he added, "It is good to see others doing today what we've been doing since 2008." Now, how does Hyundai compare?

Hyundai leased 70 Tucson fuel-cell vehicles in first year

Since going on sale in the early summer of 2014, Hyundai has leased around 70 of its hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Tucson CUVs. That's the number that Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's vice president of corporate and product planning, revealed at a green vehicle event in Huntington Beach, CA, this week. There's a reason for the low number, O'Brien said. "Of course, everybody asks 'Why 70?' and it's basically tied to the number of fuel stations that are available," he said. "We were the first to actually pass over ownership of the vehicle, it's not a test program. It helps people put their money on the table, and they lease the car from us and it's their car. The customers that we've leased the vehicle to are ones that live close to a fuel station. "Right now there is less than 10 in the state of California. By the end of this calendar year, there should be in the mid-20s. And then, of course, under Gov. Jerry Brown's $200 million towards construction, I believe about 100 stations [will come online] through the end of the next couple of years. As those stations get built out, we're taking more and more applications for vehicle sales." In January 2014, O'Brien told AutoblogGreen that 88,000 people had expressed an interest in owning a fuel-cell Tucson. O'Brien said that Hyundai needs the customers to be close to a hydrogen station so that driving the car feels similar to what they're used to doing. "We just want to make sure there is a satisfying experience of ownership, and that's the most important thing, to make that their ownership experience matches what they've experienced with a gasoline car," he said. The Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell can be leased for $499 a month, which includes free refueling. For the 2016 model year, the Tucson FCV gets HomeLink connectivity in the rear-view mirror and two new exterior colors, Hydro Blue and Chromium Silver, in addition to the already available Winter White. 2016 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Continues To Attract Zero-Emissions-Focused Customers With New Colors And Features World's First Mass-Produced Fuel Cell Vehicle Available For $499 per month Lease Includes Unlimited Free Hydrogen Refueling and At Your Service Valet Maintenance FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai's zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered Tucson Fuel Cell vehicle continues to satisfy and attract new customers focused on high-versatility and clean transportation.

Hyundai Sonata PHEV may be a game (and mind) changer

If you really, really want to consume volts instead of fuel on your way to work, school or shopping, you currently have just three options: pure EV, hydrogen fuel cell, or plug-in hybrid EV. Much as we love them, we all know the disadvantages of BEVs: high prices due to high battery cost (even though subsidized by their makers), limited range and long recharges. Yes, I know: six-figure (giant-battery) Teslas can deliver a couple hundred miles and Supercharge to ~80 percent in 10 minutes. But few of us can afford one of those, Tesla's high-voltage chargers are hardly as plentiful as gas stations, and even 10 minutes is a meaningful chunk out of a busy day. Also, good luck finding a Tesla dealership to fix whatever goes wrong (other than downloadable software updates) when it inevitably does. There still aren't any. Even more expensive, still rare as honest politicians, and much more challenging to refuel are FCEVs. You can lease one from Honda or Hyundai, and maybe soon Toyota, provided you live in Southern California and have ample disposable income. But you'd best limit your driving to within 100 miles or so of the small (but growing) number of hydrogen fueling stations in that state if you don't want to complete your trip on the back of a flatbed. That leaves PHEVs as the only reasonably affordable, practical choice. Yes, you can operate a conventional parallel hybrid in EV mode...for a mile or so at creep-along speeds. But if your mission is getting to work, school or the mall (and maybe back) most days without burning any fuel – while basking in the security of having a range-extender in reserve when you need it – your choices are extended-range EVs. That means the Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac ELR or a BMW i3 with the optional range-extender engine, and plug-in parallel hybrids. Regular readers know that, except for their high prices, I'm partial to EREVs. They are series hybrids whose small, fuel-efficient engines don't even start (except in certain rare, extreme conditions) until their batteries are spent. That means you can drive 30-40 (Volt, ELR) or 70-80 miles (i3) without consuming a drop of fuel. And until now, I've been fairly skeptical of plug-in versions of conventional parallel hybrids. Why?