Year One For First Honda Fuel Cell Vehicle Lease To Customer

Tom Bailey
July 4, 2006

June 29th marks the first year anniversary of the very first vehicle that is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. In fact, this vehicle is the first of its kind in the world to be actually leased to an individual retail customer and it bears the name Honda FCX. This is the announcement given by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. And Honda is celebrating this event. The vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell has been leased by Honda to the Spallino family who is actually based in the Los Angeles area. Jon Spallino is the person who has signed for the lease and uses the FCX. He comments, “I am surprised at the amount of attention and rubbernecking received while driving the FCX. Despite being a developing technology, we have not suffered from any reliability issues and the car has all the comforts and conveniences we need.”

The Spallino family uses the Honda FCX on their everyday drives to their daily activities. In fact, the vehicle has already traveled a couple thousands of miles already. The trips have been largely made to the supermarket, to the Spallino children’s soccer practices, as well as the daily commutes to their workplace. The family has been constantly stopped though by the public who has been very interested about their experiences in riding such a car. Some would even blatantly ask to have a ride in their Honda FCX. But after twelve months, the family is no longer surprised by these actions.

On the anniversary of such a lease, Gunnar Lindstrom says, “The lease of the Honda FCX to the Spallino family demonstrates the real-world viability of fuel cell vehicle technology and its ability to meet the needs of a family on an ongoing basis. Honda will continue to evolve and refine hydrogen vehicle technology based on feedback from real world customers, and we’ll see that expressed in future models.” Lindstrom is the senior manager of Honda’s Alternative Fuels Sales and Marketing department.

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