The production version of the Toyota FCV has been revealed, and to Toyota’s credit, it has retained much of the concept’s edgy look. While no interior photos have yet been revealed, the Toyota FCV will cost around $69,000 here in the U.S.
Production is set to begin in December, with initial sales limited to the California area, the only place in the country to have anything resembling a hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Toyota is claiming a range of 300 miles between fill-ups, which can take as little as 3 minutes, and 0 to 60 MPH will be in the ten second range.
The $69,000 price means it will still have to compete against the Tesla Model S, though its admittedly less than I thought it would cost. Can Toyota make a case for hydrogen fuel cells over battery electric cars at a time when Tesla is dominating the news cycle? The sole benefit of hydrogen seems to be the fast refueling time, something electric cars have improved by leaps and bounds in the past four years.
Is faster refilling enough to justify the switch to an entirely new and energy-intensive source of fuel? Does Toyota really think the FCV is setting the next 100 years of automotive innovation into motion?
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