Tokyo, March 10 (IANS): Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Co. on Thursday began the sale of its new Clarity Fuel Cell, the world's first five-passenger sedan-type fuel cell vehicle (FCV) which has zero carbon emissions as it runs on hydrogen.

The Clarity vehicle features a cruising range of around 750 km, meaning a driver can drive for up to that distance on a full tank, which marks an increase of about 30 percent compared to the previous FCV model, the company announced.

That range puts Clarity in the top class cruising range among zero-emissions vehicles, and its hydrogen tank takes about three minutes to refill, EFE news reported.

Its priced in Japan at $67,510 and for the first year of Clarity's launch, the company will aim for lease sales mostly to local government organizations or businesses Honda has earlier worked with in trying to popularise FCVs.

Honda plans to begin selling the new vehicle in Europe and the US before the end of the year.