Honda Clarity 2017

The new 2017 Honda Clarity is a hydrogen fuel-cell car, the follow-up to the first-generation Honda FCX Clarity that was leased to selected California drivers in tiny numbers from 2008 through 2014. Only about 60 first-generation Clarity cars were leased—they couldn't be bought outright—and each one was rumored to have cost Honda well into the six figures.

The 2017 Clarity Fuel Cell sedan, however, will be built in slightly higher numbers: Honda executives have said the company expects to build 200 the first year for all markets. But keep those low numbers and the limited availability in mind when thinking about the car, since its volume is no more than a rounding error for Honda's popular Civic, Accord, and CR-V models, each selling more than 300,000 a year.

There will also be two other versions of the Clarity: a battery-electric Clarity EV, though with a range expected to be just 80 miles or so, and a plug-in hybrid version that'll be the volume seller among the three. The hydrogen-powered version went on sale in December 2016, but the other two won't arrive until late in 2017.

The Clarity's design is futuristic and has more ornamentation, vents, trim and accent lines than the two iterations of the concept car that previewed it. The chrome bar that underlines the grille opening and sweeps over the thin, swept-back LED headlamps is a recognizable Honda design element. The flat top of the rear wheel arch, angled slightly forward, may be the most dissonant stylistic element.

Striking look, premium interior

Every Clarity has a glossy black roof with a chrome arc along the pillars and roof edge that delineates it from the lower-body color. It's a striking look, and most eyes would agree that the longer, sleeker Clarity is better-looking than the homely Toyota Mirai, the other dedicated fuel-cell vehicle on the market. The Clarity's interior is relatively conventional, with a luxurious feel and materials, and very few of the Mirai's unusual controls or hard plastics.

The motor that powers the Clarity's front wheels produces 130 kilowatts (174 horsepower) and 221 pound-feet of torque. Honda estimates acceleration from 0 to 60 mph at roughly 9 seconds, which we confirmed in some informal on-road testing during a preview drive. Like hybrids and electric cars, it uses regenerative braking to recharge a small battery pack, but that's used only to boost acceleration temporarily—it doesn't power the car for any meaningful distance. The new Clarity's 5.5 kilograms of hydrogen-storage capacity—at 10,000 psi—give it an EPA range rating of 366 miles, though like an electric car, aggressive driving style can cut the estimated range substantially. The Mirai, by comparison, is rated at 312 miles.

The first-generation FCX Clarity was roughly similar in form, but its earlier 100-kW fuel-cell stack sat in a thick, wide console between the two front passengers, it used a 100-kW (134-hp) electric motor to power the front wheels, and its hydrogen tanks were only designed for pressures of 5,000 psi. The new car has better performance, and Honda is particularly proud of the fact that its fuel-cell stack and all associated electronics fit under the hood in the same volume as a V-6 engine and transmission combination.

Honda will lease the 2017 Clarity only to households in carefully chosen areas of Northern and Southern California that lie within range of small, but growing number of hydrogen fueling stations. But as a zero-emission vehicle option, the new Clarity is likely to be swamped in volume by total sales of more than a dozen battery-electric vehicles now on the market, including the Tesla Model S and Model X, and a host of shorter-range electric cars as well. The three-year lease costs $369 a month, and comes with 20,000 miles a year and $15,000 of free hydrogen fuel—a major plus when a 60-mile refill with hydrogen cost us $16.

For those buyers uninterested in electric cars, or incapable of plugging in—and who are also lucky enough to live near a hydrogen fueling site—Honda's hydrogen-powered vehicle offers another way to drive with zero emissions from the vehicle. Its primary rival is the Toyota Mirai sedan, although Hyundai also leases a Tucson Fuel Cell model in even smaller numbers.