(Fri 10 Apr 09)

Honda's hydrogen fuel cell luxury car, the FCX Clarity, has won the Green prize at the World Car of the Year awards ceremony.

To qualify for the award, cars had to be available in at least one major market during 2008. The FCX Clarity is not actually on sale anywhere, but it met the demand since it is being leased by a small number of customers (including, famously, actress Jamie Lee Curtis) in Japan and the US.

"There's still a long way to go before fuel-cell cars will become a commercial success," said the jurors, "but hats off to Honda for continuing to advance this expensive technology during a time when every cent counts."

The Mitsubishi iMiEV electric car, which is probably even less well known in the UK than the Honda is, came second, while third place went to the much more familiar Toyota iQ.

The FCX Clarity is the second Honda (after the Civic Hybrid in 2006) to win the Green award, and also the second powered by an electric motor. The other two were German diesels - the BMW 118d last year and the Mercedes-Benz E 320 Bluetec in 2007.

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