The CR-V will be the basis for Honda's fuel cell electric car.
The CR-V variant will be produced at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio as part of the company's plan to go carbon neutral by the year 2050. Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to make electricity that powers the vehicle.
One of the first models to combine a plug-in feature with fuel cell technology will be Honda.
The company didn't say how many units it would build, but noted that the factory specializes in small volume vehicles.
The advantage of fuel cells over battery electric vehicles is that they can be refueled in three to four minutes and travel longer distances. The U.S. network of public hydrogen stations is located in California, which has a short supply of hydrogen.
Fuel cell technology has been developed by Toyota, Honda and GM. The second generation of Toyota's mid-sized sedan, the Mirai. The FCX, Honda's first fuel cell vehicle, was launched in 2002.
Hydrogen is being incorporated into other manufacturers' carbon neutral strategies.
BMW and Toyota said in August that they will work together to make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Bosch plans to invest more than $1 billion to develop fuel cell technologies, including more than $200 million to build fuel cell stacks for commercial trucks.
The CR-V-based fuel cell SUV will be launched by Honda. Half of the CR-V's annual sales are expected to come from the hybrid version.
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