Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced today that the FCX has become one of the first fuel cell vehicles in Japan to receive motor vehicle type certification from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. On March 31, 2005 the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport became the world’s first government body to enact safety and environmental standards for vehicles powered by pressurized hydrogen, and the FCX received prompt certification. Until now, certification by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport was granted to individual fuel cell vehicles for the purpose of testing on public roads. By obtaining this certification, which is for vehicles intended for public sale, the FCX has moved one step closer to the mass production stage.

Photo: http://world.honda.com/news/2005/image/4050617/01.jpg 

Honda has delivered a total of 19 FCX fuel cell vehicles to customers in the US and Japan since December 2002, when they delivered FCX vehicles both to the Japanese Cabinet Office and the City of Los Angeles on the same day. Honda has also leased vehicles to the State of New York, the Hokkaido Prefectural Government in northern Japan, customers in regions that experience sub-freezing winter temperatures, attesting to the practicality of the FCX in an expanding range of environments.

The FCX is the world’s only fuel cell vehicle to have received both EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and CARB (California Air Resources Board) certification in July 2002, which are prerequisites for commercial use in the U.S. Honda plans to make the FCX available for lease to private individuals in the U.S. sometime this year.