SHOTLIST

1. Tilt up, FCX Clarity entering the stage for line-off ceremony

2. Pan of FCX Clarity's front

3. Mid of driver closing the door, bowing to the audience

4. Mid of Honda engineers clapping hands

5. Wide of President Takeo Fukui walking to centre stage to address the audience

6. Wide of corporate audience

7. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Takeo Fukui, President of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.:

"Today is an historic day celebrating the new step towards a more widespread use of our fuel cell vehicle."

8. Mid of Ron Yerxa (left), Jon Spallino (centre), and Laura Harris, first customers of the vehicle

9. Mid of keys presented to the customers

10. Tilt up of Jon Spallino holding the car key

11. Wide of other two receiving the key from the president

12. Mid of Honda engineers clapping

13. Zoom out of President Fukui leaving the ceremony on FCX Clarity with the customers seated in the back

14. Tilt-up of the body

15. Pan of car interior at assembly line

16. Close of interior details

17. Wide of hydrogen tank

18. Mid of hydrogen tank detail

19. Mid of engineers lifting the body

20. Wide of engineers loading the hydrogen tank

21. Wide of engineers picking up too to adjust the hydrogen tank

22. Mid of Jon Spallino watching the assembly line

23. Close of hydrogen tank from below

24. Wide of Laura Harris listening to engineer's explanation

25. SOUNDBITE: (English) Laura Harris, FCX Clarity Customer:

"I am just really looking forward to a completely new alternative of transportation. So, I just want to be a part of the offerings that are available. This is an extraordinary one for sure, and it is an exquisite vehicle, and it is so fun to drive."

26. Mid to pan of the Spallino family getting in the car

27. Close of drivers' hands

28. Close of meter on the driver panel

29. Mid of driver's view

30. Wide to pan of FCX Clarity approaching and passing by

31. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jon Spallino, FCX Clarity Customer:

"The drive is fantastic. It's a great acceleration, great handling, and great comfort."

32. Pan of vehicle slowing down to a halt

33. Tilt up of vehicle interior mechanics

34. Close of FCX Clarity logo

35. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Takeo Fuku, President of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. :

"We have been working hard on the environment friendly technology, but the global climate is facing a serious situation, and it is important for us as a company to take a lead in addressing the problem. I think there is no future for the automotive industry unless we work on it as a whole, and we want to be at the forefront."

36. Zoom out of the car from the front

37. Close of FCX Clarity logo

38. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Sachito Fujimoto, Senior Chief Engineer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

"Right now, the engine takes up a lot of space in gas-fuelled cars, but I want to create something different and more attractive with the fuel cell car. The styling, the driving feel, and the spacious interior of FCX Clarity are all new values and qualities created by the new fuel cell system."

39. Close to wide of car moving forward

LEAD IN:

Honda's new zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Japanese production line Monday (16JUN08).

The new vehicle is headed to southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity runs on hydrogen and electricity, emitting only water and none of the gases believed to induce global warming.

STORYLINE:

Honda's latest creation is, according to the manufacturers, two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car.

Fuel cells create electricity in a chemical process combining hydrogen and oxygen and only emit water vapour.

Designed for practical every day use, the car speeds up to 100 mph maximum and travels as far as 270 miles.

Honda expects to lease out a "few dozen" units this year and about 200 units within a year. In California, a

three-year lease will run $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

President Takeo Fukui says that Honda intends to lead the future of automotive industry with environmental technologies, adding that there is no future for the automotive industry unless environmental issues are addressed.

Senior Chief Engineer, Sachito Fujimoto, says the car excites him not just because it satisfies the company's environmental responsibility. The architecture of the car, which uses a fuel cell stack, creates avenues for exploring new designs, performance, and sensations behind the wheel.

Among the first customers are Ron Yerxa (who produced the award-winning film "Little Miss Sunshine"), Jon Spallino, CFO of California-based engineering and construction firm, and actress Laura Harris.

Actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest are also among the first five customers.

"I am just really looking forward to a completely new alternative of transportation," said Laura Harris whilst adding that the car was both extraordinary and exquisite.

Spallino says the drive is fantastic with great acceleration, great handling and great comfort.

Harris, Spallino and Yerxa were flown to the ceremony,courtesy of Honda.

The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of

hydrogen fuel stations. For the Clarity's release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications

through its Web site but considered only buyers living near hydrogen fuel stations in Torrance, Santa Monica and

Irvine.

Initially, however, the Clarity will go only to a chosen few starting July and then launch in Japan in the autumn.

Although Honda Motor Co. was the first Japanese automaker to launch a gas-electric hybrid vehicle in the U.S. in

1999, it has been outpaced by the dominance of Toyota's popular Prius.

Toyota announced in May that it has sold more than 1million Prius hybrids, while both the Honda Insight and the

hybrid Accord have been discontinued due to poor sales.

Honda plans to deliver at least 200 FCX Clarity over the next three years in Japan and the US combined as initiatives for achieving more widespread use of fuel cell vehicles in the future.

The FCX Clarity is part of Honda's plan to keep pace with rivals in green technology. It also plans to launch a

gas-electric hybrid-only model, as well as hybrid versions of the Civic, the sporty CR-Z and Fit subcompact.

Keyword science technology