First FCX Clarity Rolls Out; Actress Curtis One of First Lessees

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. produces Job One of its FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle today in Japan, as American Honda Motor Co. Inc. announces the car’s first five lessees.

“This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell-vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel-cell cars will be part of the mainstream,” John Mendel, executive vice president-American Honda, says in a statement.

Notable on the list of names of those who will take delivery of a FCX Clarity next month in Southern California is actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, actor Christopher Guest, both green advocates who have owned “other alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles,” Honda says.

Also receiving an FCX Clarity are Jon Spallino, who has been leasing a previous-generation FCX since 2005; film-producer Ron Yerxa, whose credits include “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Cold Mountain,” Jim Salomon, a business owner and car enthusiast; and actress Laura Harris, who had test drove an FCX Clarity at last November’s Los Angeles auto show, Honda says.

The auto maker will lease 200 FCX Clarity models to customers in the U.S. and Japan meeting certain criteria over a 3-year period.

One rule is that all lessees of the fuel-cell vehicle live near a hydrogen refueling station in Southern Calfornia.

As such, Honda has selected three of its Los Angeles-area dealers near refueling stations to retail the FCX Clarity: Power Honda Costa Mesa, Honda of Santa Monica and Scott Robinson Honda.

The auto maker says it is working with its dealers “to implement processes for fuel-cell vehicle lease, delivery and service support for the duration” of customer leases, currently three years.

Periodic maintenance will be performed at the dealerships, while Honda will perform specialized service on the cars at an area facility.