Top gear & Jay Leno review fuel cell car (Honda Clarity)

Regarding platinum, there are 3-7 grams of it in catalytic converter of gas car. FCV using 30 grams for "engine" with tailpipe with water doesn't need any more platinum there.

The initial roll out in 2015 isn't for volume production. That's reserved for 2020 with Gen2.

I believe the goal of Gen1 is to get the ball rolling and get the refueling stations in place.

 

Yes in a car the power of the toyota mirai fcv it probably is on the order of 3 grams of platinum on the 3 way catylitic converter, or 10% of what a fcv currently needs. I do believe gm that by the time these things sell in volume we are only talking about 10 grams, for 100 kw fuel cell. If you make a phev erev you probably only need 50 kw, or 5 grams of platinum. It should not be a problem, today because of low volume, tomorrow because technology marches on.

Here is a Japanese analyst talking about 20 or 30 years before they are profitable, but he believes toyota is looking that far down the road.
Need for Speed Drives Toyota's Fuel Cell Investments - Videos - Boston.com

For california, one of the draws for 2015 is zev.
Toyota, Honda, Hyundai Fuel-Cell Cars: How Many Will Be Sold?

 

You say that like BEV development has been non-stop for that entire time. Once the Model T showed up with an electric starter, the interest in consumer BEVs ended. There were a few test programs, but it wasn't until CARB's first ZEV program and the EV1 that automakers actually put a real effort into the BEV.

The advances that took 100+ years that allow the BEVs today were in the fields of electric motors and batteries. Both of which had more applications beyond the BEV. The FCEV is one of those others.