Where Are All of the Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Honda CR-Vs?

Key Points

• Honda sells a fuel-cell version of its CR-V compact SUV that’s only available in California.
• However, trying to find one for sale has been difficult, and Honda is staying quiet on the amount the company actually sells. 

Honda has always been big on alternative fuels. In the 1990s, the company experimented with electric vehicles and brought one of the first mass-produced hybrids to market with the first-generation Insight. Another alternative-fuel Honda has bet on is hydrogen. Over the past 25 years, Honda has introduced four different hydrogen-powered vehicles: the FCX in 2002, followed by the FCX Clarity in 2007 and the Clarity Fuel Cell in 2016. Recently, Honda decided to try another crack at hydrogen with the awkwardly named CR-V e:FCEV. While it’s among the most advanced vehicles Honda has made, buyers looking for this fuel-cell CR-V may have a hard time finding one.

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• Takeaway: For the 2025 model year, Honda introduced the CR-V e:FCEV, a plug-in hybrid that can go up to 29 miles on electricity alone.

Honda first announced a fuel-cell vehicle based on the CR-V in late 2022. Calling it the first pairing of hydrogen and plug-in hybrid technology in North America, Honda said the vehicle  would contribute to its goal of having 100% of its sales be from either battery-electric or fuel-cell vehicles by 2040. The automaker also said it would be made in small batches at the same Ohio facility that produced the Acura NSX and special-edition PMC models.. 

The production CR-V e:FCEV debuted in 2024. Designed completely in-house by Honda, the CR-V e:FCEV pairs a 17.7-kilowatt-hour battery pack with a 92.2-kWh fuel-cell module and a front-mounted, 174-horsepower electric motor. All that combines to give the CR-V e:FCEV 270 miles of total driving range and 29 miles of all-electric range. 

The CR-V e:FCEV went on sale in mid-2025. It’s not available nationwide, however. Due to the nature of its unique fuel-cell powertrain, it’s only available in California, which has the only hydrogen fueling infrastructure in the country. It’s also only available to lease.

That’s one of the first major downsides to the CR-V e:FCEV. Even though California has hydrogen fueling infrastructure, it’s nearly nonexistent. A combination of station closures across the state and a pullback of federal funding means owners of the CR-V e:FCEV — and other hydrogen-powered vehicles like Toyota’s Mirai and the Hyundai’s Nexo — are largely left out in the cold. Honda tried to sweeten the deal by offering customers $15,000 in fueling credits when they lease, but that doesn’t mean much when owners can’t find too many places to fill up. 

The other problems involve the CR-V e:FCEV’s high price and short lease term. Honda only offers the SUV in one loaded trim. Including destination, the CR-V e:FCEV will set you back $51,450, and it’s only available with a three-year/10,000-mile lease.

Good Luck Finding One to Buy

• Takeaway: Inventories of the CR-V e:FCEV are light and don’t even show up using Honda’s car-buying tools.

If you’re feeling risky and are in the market for one of these hydrogen-powered CR-Vs, you might have trouble finding one. Before anything, you have to be a California resident because, as I mentioned, Honda only offers the CR-V e:FCEV in the Golden State. Searching for one using Cars.com yields only three within 750 miles as of March 2026. 

You might have better luck by searching individual dealers, but not by much. Take one of the largest Honda dealers in California and one of the largest-volume Honda dealers in the country, for example. Despite an inventory of nearly 500 CR-Vs, the dealer has just 10 CR-V e:FCEVs. Most of the other dealers we checked have none.

Using the inventory search tool on Honda’s website is no help, either. No matter which California zip code you put in, you’ll find zero CR-V e:FCEVs in dealer inventories. What gives?

I reached out to Honda and asked why the fuel-cell CR-V is so hard to find. It turns out that Honda is keeping the hydrogen-powered SUV’s production low and only lets select dealerships sell it. 

“This model represents one of Honda’s ongoing efforts to reduce our environmental impact through advanced, zero‑emission technologies,” a Honda spokesperson told us. “The CR‑V e:FCEV is a low‑production vehicle and is available through a lease program at 12 select dealerships in California. Due to this limited distribution, inventory remains very restricted.”

Honda says just 12 dealers across the state — six in Southern California, five in the Bay Area and one in Sacramento — are approved to sell the CR-V e:FCEV, though the automaker didn’t name the specific dealers. Honda was also reluctant to share just how many CR-V e:FCEVs have been sold since its introduction, only telling us “the model is meeting overall sales expectations and provides customers with an additional environmentally conscious option within the CR‑V lineup.”

So if you’re in the market for a vehicle that uses alternative fuel and have had your eye on the CR-V e:FCEV, you might have to do a bit of legwork to find one.

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