TOYOTA Motor Corp said on Friday it has developed an advanced fuel- cell vehicle that can run for 830 km (516 miles) on a single tank of hydrogen and in temperatures as low as 30 degrees Celsius below freezing (- 22 F).
The zero- emission FCHV- adv will be leased to government agencies, among other possible users in Japan starting later this year, a spokes woman said. The new version of the fuel- cell car, which runs on hydrogen and emits only water, increased fuel efficiency by 25 percent with an improved fuel cell unit and other changes to its brake system and elsewhere.
Combined with a slightly bigger fuel tank and a doubling of the maximum storage pressure, the FCHV- adv extended the cruising range from the previous FCHV’s 330 km (205 miles), Toyota said in a statement. It has a maximum speed of 155 km per hour (97 mph). Fuel- cell vehicles are widely considered the ultimate longer- term alternative to today’s conventional cars as they run on an inexhaustible and cheaper source of fuel —hydrogen —have no harmful tailpipe emissions and do not compromise driving performance.
The main hurdles for their proliferation are alack of fuelling stations and the high cost of development. Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe had said previously that it will take years to make eco- friendly cars running on fuel cells commercially viable. Besides the hefty price, motorists would also need an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations if they are to take the cars on the road.
Toyota and domestic rival Honda Motor Co became the world’s first two automakers to put a fuel- cell vehicle on the road in December 2002, and have since been in a tight race to prepare them for mass- commercialization. Honda’s latest FCX Clarity, a sporty- looking fuel- cell sedan, can run 620 km (385 miles) on a single fuelling as measured under Japan’s fuel efficiency test method. It can go as fast as 160 km per hour (99 mph), uses a lithium- ion battery and can withstand temperatures from -30 to 95 degrees Celsius (- 22F to 203F).
Honda plans to begin leasing the car in the United States starting next month and in Japan later this year. It is targeting lease sales of about 200 FCX Clarity cars in the first three years in the two countries combined. Toyota’s FCHV- adv, which uses a nickel- metal hydride battery, will be showcased as a test- ride vehicle at the Group of 8rich nations’ summit in Toyako, northern Japan, next month. It will also provide more than 70 hybrid cars and hydrogen fuelled buses for use by shuttle participants.
Japanese companies have been working to create a viable zero- emission car running on fuel cells, which produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, leaving water as the only by- product. Toyota’s system was enhanced to further improve cruising distance and low- temperature starts, which had presented obstacles to widespread fuel cell vehicle use, the company said in a statement.
Toyota engineers managed to control the amount of water produced inside the fuel- cell system, which previously interfered with electrical generation at low temperatures. Fuel efficiency was also improved, the automaker said. Toyota said it would continue to strive to improve the durability and reduce the cost of fuel cell vehicles to bring about their widespread use.
Toyota was a pioneer of petrol- electric hybrid cars which are attracting growing interest at a time of soaring oil prices and increasing concerns about global warming. The International Energy Agency estimated today that nearly a billion electric or fuel cell vehicles may need to be put on the road as part of an energy technology revolution to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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