There are now three different vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells on sale in California, and we've driven them all. The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell is the first one in which we were able to forget about the powertrain and simply drive. It's the best of the three . . . The Clarity is a mid-size sedan, with some strange exterior design cues but a spacious, comfortable, and pleasant interior that's nicely appointed. . . .
On the road, Honda has done a better job of suppressing noise, vibration, harshness, and mechanical sounds than Toyota did with its Mirai . . . The Clarity simply drives like a large electric sedan, complete with some electronics hum under certain circumstances. That's hardly surprising, since it's powered by a 130-kilowatt (174-horsepower) electric motor driving the front wheels. . . .
We started the trip with an indicated 194 miles of hydrogen range, and sampled the refueling experience at a "True Zero" station . . . Fueling was as simple as promised, complete with paper receipt from the pump after it was completed.
Perplexingly, though, the available-range display had risen from 194 miles to just 258 miles, even though the tank appeared on the gauge to be full. That's a far cry from the EPA rating of 366 miles of range from the Clarity's 5.5 kilograms of highly compressed hydrogen. That number is higher than the Mirai's 312 miles, the Tucson Fuel Cell's 265-mile rating, and even any Tesla model now on sale . . . We can only assume the folks who had prepared the Clarity test cars had hammered them considerably, since several other journalists also noted sub-300-mile range indicators when full.