Toyota plans to "rebuild the story" of hydrogen vehicles

Toyota believes it tin “rebuild the story” of hydrogen arsenic a viable substance for vehicles successful the future, owed to developments successful dense manufacture and different fields.

The Japanese elephantine continues to put heavy successful hydrogen powertrains, moving connected some substance compartment and combustion versions arsenic portion of its ‘multi-pathway’ strategy. 

It has launched 2 generations of the Mirai FCEV, but the saloon has sold lone successful tiny numbers, successful portion owed to the deficiency of a hydrogen-fuelling infrastructure. There person besides been criticisms of hydrogen’s suitability arsenic a ‘green’ fuel, owed to the biology interaction of its accumulation compared with that of electricity.

Yet Thiebault Paquet, Toyota’s hydrogen brag successful Europe, believes that continued improvement of hydrogen, including however to nutrient it much cleanly, means the substance inactive has potential.

“For heavy-duty transport, we volition request different solutions than battery-electric vehicles, and hydrogen could beryllium the close solution,” Paquet told Autocar.

“We request to make the infrastructure and the merchandise astatine the aforesaid time, which is ongoing now. What we request to debar and what possibly we did incorrect earlier is not allowing for proviso and demand. We learned from that, and I deliberation we tin rebuild the story.

“Heavy manufacture volition make a batch of measurement [for hydrogen], which tin past lend to the utilisations for different applications, similar commercialized vehicles and rider cars.

“Companies processing hydrogen don’t marque a favoritism betwixt hydrogen for transport and hydrogen for industry; it’s each portion of their standard story. So hydrogen volition come; this is thing we’re convinced about.”

The EU is expecting hydrogen to relationship for 13-20% of its vigor premix by 2050, with a people of 40GW of ‘green’ hydrogen accumulation (produced from h2o and aerial utilizing electrolysers) by 2030.

It has committed to opening hydrogen fuelling stations successful each metropolis and each 124 miles on cardinal roadworthy networks, and portion those are focused connected usage for long-distance transportation trucks, they could assistance the improvement of a hydrogen fuelling web for cars. 

Paquet besides addressed criticisms astir hydrogen’s inefficiency compared with batteries, claiming that energy tin beryllium utilized lone comparatively adjacent to wherever it’s generated, whereas liquid hydrogen is casual to transport.

He added: “In Europe, we volition ever person to import [hydrogen], but determination are regions successful the satellite that tin make green, renewable hydrogen successful abundance, and we tin easy transport that to areas that cannot afloat prolong themselves.”