Have you ever ever questioned what would occur in case you melded the very best qualities of a plug-in hybrid and a hydrogen-powered car? (What’s that? No? Okay, honest.) Nicely, Honda each requested that query and answered it with the 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV, a mannequin it is calling “America’s first manufacturing plug-in hydrogen gas cell car.” It is a mouthful of an outline for an intriguing new breed of zero-emission car. And it is a part of Honda’s wider ambitions within the hydrogen house.
Permit me to elucidate what is going on on right here.
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Hydrogen fuel-cell EVs
Hydrogen-powered EVs are a distinct segment inside a distinct segment, they usually solely exist in California. They’re faster to gas than common electrical vehicles, however an absence of dependable fueling infrastructure is holding them again.
A Plug-in Hybrid, However Make It Hydrogen
The CR-V e:FCEV (the FCEV stands for fuel-cell electrical car) is an electrical SUV that takes each electrons and hydrogen. Filling its 17.7-kilowatt-hour battery utilizing an EV charger yields as much as 29 miles of driving vary, Honda says. Fueling the CR-V’s tanks at a hydrogen station boosts its whole mileage to an EPA-estimated 270.
The thought is one can plug it in at house and get sufficient cheap electrical vary to run every day errands, or they will fill it with hydrogen for longer journeys.
It is the identical idea behind plug-in hybrids, that are one thing like a cross between an electrical automobile and a traditional hybrid, like a Toyota Prius. Plug-in hybrids supply a couple of dozen miles of electrical vary married with the road-tripping comfort of a gasoline engine. Right here Honda has swapped in a hydrogen fuel-cell system, which generates electrical energy utilizing fuel and produces water as a byproduct.
![2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV](https://cdn.motor1.com/images/static/16x9-tr.png)
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The e:FCEV can be out there to lease in California later this 12 months. There can be only one trim to select from: Touring. Along with the funky new powertrain, the brand new variant has exterior cues that make it stand out from different CR-Vs: a novel grill, liftgate and rear fascia, together with new physique panels ahead of the A-pillar.
No matter gas supply, the vitality flows to a front-mounted motor producing a claimed 174 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque. One standout characteristic: It additionally comes with the flexibility to share 1,500 watts of electrical energy with tenting gear, energy instruments, home equipment and extra.
Cargo house could also be disappointing for SUV patrons, although. The CR-V’s hydrogen tanks protrude into the cargo space, successfully eliminating what appears to be a few giant suitcases-worth of open house.
Honda’s Hydrogen Ambitions
The CR-V e:FCEV makes use of Honda’s second-generation hydrogen fuel-cell expertise, which it co-developed with Normal Motors. Honda stated the brand new tech is cheaper, extra sturdy and better efficiency than the system within the Readability Gasoline Cell, Honda’s hydrogen car that was discontinued in 2021.
Honda says it goals to make its automobile enterprise carbon-neutral by 2040 by way of a mixture of EVs and fuel-cell autos. However the automaker’s hydrogen ambitions lengthen far past passenger autos.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe stated throughout a roundtable in January that EV expertise is the “optimum resolution” for making passenger vehicles carbon-neutral, whereas hydrogen can be extra vital for buses, vehicles and stationary mills. Shinji Aoyama, the corporate’s international government vice chairman, added that the upcoming CR-V is a crucial “showcase” of how Honda’s fuel-cell tech is enhancing.
Honda can be engaged on hydrogen building gear and is researching hydrogen’s potential as an electrical energy supply in house, it stated in a press launch.
Briefly, fuel-cell passenger vehicles appear poised to stay solely a small a part of Honda’s enterprise over the approaching years. However like a number of automakers, maybe most notably Toyota, Hyundai and BMW, it is protecting that expertise heat in case it takes off (together with in non-U.S. markets) within the coming many years.
Hydrogen’s Rocky Street
However the issue is much less the automobile, and extra of the gas itself. Hydrogen stations are extremely costly to construct—extra so than even EV fast-chargers—so few fueling companions stepped as much as assist Honda and Toyota with their H2 desires.
Because of this, hydrogen-powered vehicles have been a distinct segment for years. Save for some mishaps, they solely exist in California, which is house to the entire nation’s 52 fueling stations. Their fundamental draw is that their tanks take just some minutes to refill, similar to a traditional automobile. Not like a traditional automobile, although, they do not emit dangerous tailpipe emissions. And you do not have to take a seat round for a half-hour ready in your automobile to cost such as you would with an ordinary EV.
Gasoline-cell vehicles sound terrific on paper—till you attempt to fill one up. California’s hydrogen stations are unusual (more and more so, apparently) and routinely out of order. The value of hydrogen has skyrocketed in recent times, though free gas playing cards from automakers assist offset that burden on drivers. Shell just lately shut down all of its seven remaining hydrogen places in California, citing “hydrogen provide problems and different exterior market components.” (And regardless of copious help from the Japanese authorities, hybrids aren’t promoting effectively there, both.)
The CR-V e:FCEV is, little doubt, an fascinating piece of tech. And the truth that you’ll be able to plug it in might make it extra interesting than different hydrogen autos, which rely solely on public infrastructure. However the fueling expertise should begin enhancing to make it a very enticing alternative.
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