Honda, Toyota to Go Public with Fuel Cell Cars Next Year

Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. each plan to begin offering fuel cell-powered cars to the general public in 2015, according to The Nikkei. The Tokyo-based newspaper says the companies will offer the ultra-clean models in Japan, Europe and the U.S.

Honda and Toyota already offer small numbers of fuel cell cars but only on a leased basis and only to businesses or government agencies.

The Nikkei says Honda is developing a five-passenger sedan that can cover 500 km (310 miles) on one tank of compressed hydrogen gas. The $97,000 vehicle will be produced at the carmaker's Sayama factory at a rate of 5,000 over five years.

Honda unveiled the car in stylish prototype form, dubbed the FCEV Concept, during the Los Angeles auto show last November. It will succeed Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell car. The company is working with General Motors Co. on next-generation fuel-cell systems that both companies aim to commercialize by 2020.

Toyota's $99,000 fuel-cell car will be made at the company's headquarters complex in Aichi Prefecture, The Nikkei reports. It says Toyota also will begin output at 1,000 per year but hopes to hike annual production to tens of thousands by 2020. The car will be based by the FCV Concept car Toyota introduced at the Tokyo auto show last November.

Toyota expects to reduce the price of its hydrogen-fueled car by at least half by 2020. The company has partnered with BMW AG on fuel-cell technology.