Honda’s Hydrogen-Powered CR-V Is Coming, Even If There’s Nowhere Left To Fill It

Depending on who you ask, hydrogen power is either the future of the automotive word or a massive waste of money. Clearly, Honda thinks it’s the former as it’s just teased the release of a hydrogen-powered CR-V that’s coming to America later this year. There’s just one catch, the number of filling stations you’ll be able to top up at is falling rapidly.

Honda Motocompacto | Quick Drive

The hydrogen-powered CR-V has been in the works for some time, but Honda has just given us our first glimpse at the finished car, albeit shrouded in camouflage. The new model, which was brought to our attention by the folks at Car And Driver, will join the gas- and hybrid-powered models in the U.S. later this year.

【Honda Stories動画】水素で走る　CR-VベースFCEVデザイナーが込めた想いとは

For its latest hydrogen-powered model, Honda has partnered with General Motors to build the fuel cells that will power the car. The cells will convert hydrogen gas to electricity, which will then be used to power a motor in the new CR-V.

However, that won’t be the only means of powering the new car, as Honda has also fitted the CR-V with a plug, meaning that drivers can charge their car up at normal EV charging stations across America.

The powertrain isn’t the only change that’s been made to the CR-V you see here, as Honda has give it a flourish of design tweaks to make it stand out from the crowd. Up front, the shape of the grille is slightly different, the headlights have been tweaked and the lower quarter has also been updated. It’s all minimal, but noticeable.

Sorry, what powers this car? Screenshot: Honda

Interestingly, it feels like this will be a car that’s run on electricity a lot more than hydrogen, as there are currently more than 130,000 charging points for EVs across America. In contrast, there’s just 59 retail hydrogen filling stations, and all of them are located in California.

In fact, the future of hydrogen in the U.S. was thrown into doubt this week when oil giant Shell announced that it was closing it’s publicly accessible hydrogen filling stations. The Dutch oil company announced the closure of all seven of its retail hydrogen pumps earlier this week, and said it would instead focus on hydrogen as a fuel for heavy trucks and commercial vehicles.

I’m no expert, but I’d say the CR-V doesn’t count as a commercial vehicle or heavy truck, so that begs the question: who will actually buy and use this car?