Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle Lease Program Begins With First Customer Delivery

		World's first Honda FCX Clarity customers Ron Yerxa, center, and wife Annette Ballester receive the ceremonial key to their Honda hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle from Dan Rowand, sales manager of Honda of Santa Monica, Friday, July 25, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. The couple are the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan, with the vast majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California. Photo/AP, Susan Goldman. (PRNewsFoto/American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Susan Goldman) TORRANCE, CA UNITED STATES

		World's first Honda FCX Clarity customers Ron Yerxa, center, and wife Annette Ballester get a lesson from Tim Cunningham, Honda fuel cell vehicle program consultant, on how to refuel their hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle, Friday, July 25, 2008 in West Los Angeles. The couple are the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan, with the vast majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California. Photo/AP, Susan Goldman. (PRNewsFoto/American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Susan Goldman) TORRANCE, CA UNITED STATES

		World's first Honda FCX Clarity customer Ron Yerxa sits the behind the wheel of his new hydrogen fuel cell- powered vehicle, Friday, July 25, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. Yerxa is the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan, with the vast majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California. Photo/AP, Susan Goldman. (PRNewsFoto/American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Susan Goldman) TORRANCE, CA UNITED STATES

Zero-emissions vehicle now on the roads of Southern California TORRANCE, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., today announced that Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester took delivery of their hydrogen fuel cell-powered FCX Clarity on Friday, July 25, 2008 at Honda of Santa Monica, one of three dealerships in Southern California that are part of the first fuel cell vehicle dealership network. Yerxa and Ballester are the world's first FCX Clarity customers and the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan over the next three years, with the vast majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080725/LAF515-a) (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080725/LAF515-b) (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080725/LAF515-c) "The FCX Clarity lease program is one more step toward meeting the societal goals of climate stability, renewable energy supplies and zero-emissions transportation," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. "With this key step, we are advancing toward the goal of broader commercialization," Mendel added. "Establishing a dedicated sales network and service infrastructure provides customers with the best balance of convenience and the highest level of satisfaction." Significant advances over Honda's previous generation FCX include a 25 percent increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg-H2* [74 mpg GGE (miles per gasoline gallon equivalent)] and a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles*. The FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle. Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell, the vehicle's only emission is water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile. * Based on official 2008 EPA mileage estimates. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.