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Honda working on 'power exporter' to go with fuel-cell vehicle

The bad news, as we've previously reported, is that Honda's first production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle won't debut until 2016, a bit later than expected. The good news is that the automaker may produce a device that will let that FCV's motor power up other devices as well. So it's a tradeoff of sorts. The company is producing what it calls the Power Exporter Concept. Put simply, it's a device that can connects to the fuel-cell vehicle and produce AC power (the picture makes it look fairly small, but dimensions weren't disclosed). The device has a maximum output of 9 kilowatts. Honda isn't saying much else about the device, which was announced along with further details of the company's upcoming fuel-cell concept vehicle. Still, it's heady yet not terribly surprising stuff from a company that's long been a big player on the portable power generator industry. Honda recently said its first production fuel-cell vehicle would see the light of day in early 2016 instead of 2015. The futuristic-looking vehicle will have a power output of about 130 horsepower and will be able to have its hydrogen tank filled up in less than five minutes. Take a look at Honda's press release below. Honda Unveils All-New FCV CONCEPT Fuel-Cell Vehicle - Striving to Realize a CO2-free Society by Combining FCV with an external power feeding device and Smart Hydrogen Station - TOKYO, Japan, November 17, 2014 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled, for the first time in the world, the Honda FCV CONCEPT, a concept car for an all-new fuel-cell vehicle (FCV), and the Honda Power Exporter CONCEPT, a concept model for an external power feeding device that enables AC power output from the FCV with maximum output of 9 kW*1. The all-new FCV that will be based on this concept model is scheduled to go on sale in Japan by the end of March, 2016 and subsequently in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to the FCV and external power feeding device, Honda will further promote the application of the Smart Hydrogen Station (SHS), a packaged hydrogen station unit that adopts Honda's original high-differential-pressure electrolyzer. In this way, Honda will work toward the forthcoming hydrogen society under three key concepts – "generate," "use" and "get connected" – and strive for the early realization of a CO2-free society.

Honda sees sales up but profit sliding 16 percent in 2017-18

TOKYO - Honda forecasts a 16 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker sees higher auto sales being offset by a stronger yen and research-and-development costs. Japan's No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the current FY2018, down from 840.7 billion yen posted in the fiscal year just ended, and lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen from 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It sees a 14 percent slide in net profit to 530.0 billion yen this year, down from 616.5. Honda's projections are based on a forecast that the yen will average 105 yen to the U.S. dollar through next March, stronger than the 108 yen rate in the year just ended.BUT CAR SALES ARE UP At the same time, there's good news as Honda expects its global vehicle sales to edge up 1 percent to 5.08 million this year, bolstered by growth in Asian sales to 2.06 million units, beating out North America to become Honda's top market as more Chinese drivers flock to its cars. The company expects to sell 1.92 million vehicles in North America, 2.5 percent less than the year just ended as it struggles to sell sedans including the Accord, which have fallen out of fashion in the past few years. Honda has been ramping up production of SUVs to keep up with strong demand for larger models in the United States, although overall vehicle sales show signs of slowing following a boom cycle after the global financial crisis. Mazda is taking a similar strategy, announcing on Friday it would expand production of SUV crossover models at home, while equipping overseas plants to enable more flexible production of models according to market needs. Japan's No. 5 automaker forecast a 19 percent jump in operating profit for the current financial year as it expects higher sales volumes, particularly in North America, to help it recover from last year's profit slump.A CONSERVATIVE OUTLOOK Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi acknowledged that Honda's expected currency hit of 95 billion yen was based on a "conservative" yen forecast, adding that growing costs to create next-generation cars would also impact earnings. "Our costs are rising to develop new technologies which will be needed in the future, like automated driving functions and electric cars," he told reporters at a results briefing.

Zipcar, Honda announce OneWay carsharing with 2015 Fit

Zipcar has been around for over a dozen years, and now shares more than 10,000 cars on a short-term basis with 850,000 members around the world. But there's been one thing missing from the carsharing giant's quiver of options: the one-way rental. That changes today. For a select few in Boston, anyway. OneWay's Boston launch is so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge. Zipcar has announced a new one-way carsharing option called (annoyingly) ONE>WAY. This new program soft launches in Boston today, and it's so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge drivers who use the new service. What we do know is that OneWay exclusively uses the 2015 Honda Fit and will allow drivers to rent by the half hour as they pick up and drop off in two different locations. The standard Zipcar model requires the cars to be brought back to the original location and has a one-hour minimum. At least one membership fee will cover both standard Zipcar and Zipcar OneWay. The introduction of shorter-term, one-way rental may sound a bit like Car2go, the successful carsharing program started by Daimler. Zipcar representatives told AutoblogGreen that it did develop OneWay in response to member demand and that there are two main differences between the two carsharing services. First, since OneWay still uses the traditional reserved-for-Zipcar parking spot method (new ones will be established for OneWay), there will always be a guaranteed space when you arrive at your destination. Second, the Fit has a lot roomier than the Smart ForTwo used by Car2go. To see this point in action, check out the four happy hipsters in Zipcar's new ad for OneWay below. There are currently other Fits in Zipcar fleets in other cities, but the specially branded vehicles in the Boston trial program will need to be used with the OneWay vehicles. That means, for now at least, that users will specify a pick-up and drop-off location before renting the vehicle, said Kaye Ceille, the president of Zipcar. The 30-minute minimum might also someday be changed, depending on user feedback. There's a lot up in the air right now, but Zipcar did say that despite the fact that OneWay is intended for short trips and has reserved parking, the Fit EV will not be involved. That car simply doesn't offer the cargo flexibility that the standard Fit does and some of the reserved parking spots will be on the street, where putting in a charging station isn't feasible.