January 27, 2005—Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today delivered a Honda FC Stack-equipped FCX, the world’s first fuel cell vehicle capable of starting in sub-freezing temperatures, to the Hokkaido Prefectural Government. Today’s ceremony at the Hokkaido Prefectural Government Office was attended by Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi and Honda Motor Senior Managing Director Satoshi Dobashi.

The lease is the first of a fuel cell vehicle in Japan in a region that experiences sub-freezing temperatures. In December 2004, Honda leased an FCX to the State of New York, also a cold-weather area. Since December 2002, Honda has delivered a total of five FCX vehicles in the metropolitan Tokyo area to organizations including the Japanese Cabinet Office, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Iwatani International Corporation, and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

The Honda FC Stack is the world's first fuel stack installed in a vehicle to feature a stamped metal separator structure and newly developed electrolytic membranes. The number of parts used in the new stack is only about 50% that used in the previous stack^*1 and the output density^*2 is more than double, resulting in world-leading high performance. Further, use of newly developed aromatic electrolytic membranes greatly improves durability and makes possible power generation at temperatures ranging from -20°C (-4°F) to +95°C (+203°F)—which was not possible with previous stacks.