Honda set to release hydrogen fuel cell car – and home fuelling station

"Honda is striving to address the need for a refueling infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles," said Ben Knight, vice president of Honda R&D Americas. "The Home Energy Station represents one promising solution to this issue, while offering the added benefit of heating and powering the home more efficiently."

The natural gas is reformed to produce hydrogen, which is then run directly through to a fuel cell stack to generate electricity for the home and enough heat to run the hot water supply. When immediate consumption is not needed, the hydrogen is refined, compressed and stored in a large tank for later use, or to fill a hydrogen car like the FCX Clarity.

Storage in the Home Energy Station IV is a maximum of 132 liters, which it fills at a rate of 2 normal cubic meters per hour.

Even though the fourth generation unit is about 70% smaller than Honda’s first home Energy Station prototype, it’s still quite large, requiring a decent chunk of front yard to set up. There’s no figures available on kilowatt output for powering the home, and Honda are yet to release details of when it plans to bring the unit to market – but its synergistic launch with the FCX Clarity shows Honda see the Home Energy Station as a partner device to the FCX.