Honda's FC Sport fuel-cell hybrid debuts in a puff of conceptual smoke

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/20/hondas-fc-sport-fuel-cell-hybrid-debuts-in-a-puff-of-conceptual/

If the Tesla Roadster has proven anything other than the disruptive effects of a hyper-inflated ego, it's that well designed eco-vehicles will sell... at any price. Yet the general design theme amongst hybrid builders appears to be your grandfather's loafer. Honda too, just look at the FCX Clarity. So we're pretty stoked to see Honda roll out its FC Sport concept three-seater (driver front-and-center) at the LA Auto Show using the same V-Flow fuel cell stack and electric drivetrain found in the FCX Clarity. Only thing is, it's a non-functional concept with little hope of hitting the market anytime soon if history serves. Good news for GM but bad news for consumers. As a wise man of consumer electronics once said:

"You know how you see a show car, and it's really cool, and then four years later you see the production car, and it sucks? And you go, What happened? They had it! They had it in the palm of their hands! They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory! What happened was, the designers came up with this really great idea. Then they take it to the engineers, and the engineers go, 'Nah, we can't do that. That's impossible.' And so it gets a lot worse. Then they take it to the manufacturing people, and they go, 'We can't build that!' And it gets a lot worse."

Or to paraphrase: It's like asking for a Big Mac and getting a fish sandwich.

Read -- Parable of the Concept Car
Read -- FC Sport

Filed under: Transportation

Honda's FC Sport fuel-cell hybrid debuts in a puff of conceptual smoke originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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