Functionality personified!
Bidirectional charging? You got it! Thanks in large part to Honda’s commitment that hydrogen has a key place in the automotive industry, they will combine for the 2025 CR-V a fuel cell with a battery pack, thus realizing the benefit of bidirectional charging among many other powerful results! With this move, it will be just one of three hydrogen-powered electric vehicles offered in America. Honda is working alongside General Motors on a next-generation fuel-cell system that will go into an upcoming FCEV based on the CR-V. This is undoubtedly a different approach, but a sharp one, positioning Honda models alongside many other battery-powered EVs on sale today. See what happens when a battery pack is thrown in the mix!
Here’s more…
What we know!
While many of the specifics have not yet been revealed, Honda has unveiled that the CR-V FCEV, starting at about $60,000, will be made at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, the same spot where Acura NSX came off the assembly line before the hybrid supercar was discontinued in the fall of 2022. It is also expected to share the majority of its styling with the gas-powered SUV and go up against the Toyota Mirai sedan the Hyundai Nexo crossover when it comes to competition.
The CR-V Fuel Cell will boast an all-new powertrain for 2025 in this joint venture with GM. And in terms of the vehicle’s look, a prototype that has been given a sneak peek has clear taillights and a charging port on the driver’s side front fender, where the battery, power home appliances or other devices can be charged. The exterior and interior design will most likely be similar to the existing gas-powered CR-V.
When it comes to the fuel-cell’s powertrain, we are certain it will feature two hydrogen tanks at the rear of the vehicle and a power unit under the seats with the fuel cell system and the drive unit mounted under hood.
Honda is assuring that this fuel cell system will be less costly — two/thirds less to be exact — to build and twice as durable. At its release, it will be the only fuel-cell electric passenger vehicle made in the United States.
It will be available in limited quantities with Honda committing to build 2,000 units of the fuel cell system each year by 2025. Some of those units will be shipped to General Motors. And, like the Clarity Fuel Cell, the CR-V Fuel Cell may end up being sold exclusively in California, but that is yet to be specified.
What is also not yet revealed are trim levels.
Drivers will have the clear choice of whether they prefer a CR-V FCEV that runs on hydrogen or electricity, essentially if they want to plug it in or fill it up! Set to debut in 2024, the CR-V FCEV will provide extra functionality. The vehicle can recharged as a regular EV when there is no hydrogen pump nearby. Because of this, it will be less dependent on the hydrogen fueling
network which is quite limited at this point in time. And the best part is that owners will have the unique ability to use the battery juice for powering other devices in their home such as a coffee maker, among others.
We are not yet certain of the battery capacity or size pf the hydrogen tank, so a range therefore remains unknown.
Hydrogen’s place in the automotive industry is growing, and Honda is at the forefront. And with a next-generation fuel cell system, the CR-V is only certain to grow in popularity. Functionality personified — reserve yours today!