Groupe Renault is extending the range of its electric light commercial vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells. Renault KANGOO Z.E. Hydrogen will be available at the end of 2019 and Renault MASTER Z.E. Hydrogen in 2020.
Tested since 2014, Groupe Renault’s hydrogen technology was developed in partnership with Symbio, a Groupe Michelin subsidiary.
The vehicles are equipped with a range extender fuel cell providing electric and thermal power of 10 kW, increasing the range of Renault MASTER Z.E. Hydrogen and Renault KANGOO Z.E. Hydrogen to more than 350 km (217 miles).
Another advantage of hydrogen is that charging takes just five to ten minutes. Hydrogen responds to the requirements of professionals not yet to be fulfilled by electric vehicles, notably for their long-distance travel needs.
Expected in first-half 2020, Renault MASTER Z.E. Hydrogen will triple the range from 120 km to 350 km and will be available in van (two versions) and chassis cab (two versions). Equipped with two hydrogen tanks located under the car body, the vehicle will gain in versatility with no compromises on the load volume from 10.8 m3 to 20 m3 with a reasonable additional weight of 200 kg.
From the end of 2019, Renault KANGOO Z.E. Hydrogen will boast the best real-life range of any electric van on the market at 370 km (230 miles) (vs 230 km.143 miles WLTP with Kangoo Z.E.). With a load volume of 3.9 m3, despite a reasonable additional weight of 110 kg, this vehicle will be available in France at €48,300 ex. VAT (including the battery purchase and not including ecological bonuses).
Groupe Renault considers hydrogen electric light commercial vehicles particularly suitable for the intensive needs and uses of professionals in large urban areas up to the periphery of cities: transport and logistics, urban deliveries and multi-technical services, municipal and local authority services, express and special mail.
Chinese manufacturer Yutong is placing 22 hydrogen fuel cell buses into service in Zhengzhou (two now, 20 to follow) as well as the first batch of 25 units to Zhangjiakou.
As the host city of the 24th Winter Olympic Games, Zhangjiakou aims to create a green winter Olympics and is committed to taking the lead in applying leading-edge hydrogen fuel cell buses. The delivered vehicles are the 3rd-generation hydrogen fuel cell bus independently developed by Yutong.
The vehicle features a 500-kilometer (311-mile) driving range and only 10~15 min hydrogen refueling time. The vehicle can achieve startup at the temperature as low as -30 °C, which is well adapted to cold weather.
As of July this year, the reliability verification mileage for Yutong hydrogen fuel cell buses has exceeded 90,000 kilometers, effectively verifying the reliability of fuel cell system, hydrogen system, DC/DC voltage converters and integrated vehicle control.
In addition, the vehicle has been fully upgraded with a 360° surround view system, air suspension system, barrier-free access and more.
The buses are equipped with four hydrogen leakage sensors. When the hydrogen concentration reaches 1.6%, the alarm is triggered. When it reaches 2%, the hydrogen supply will be cut off, and the alarm on the dashboard will alert the driver to take corresponding measures as soon as possible.
In addition, the vehicle is also provided with two sets of video surveillance systems, and totally seven cameras are available to provide an overall surveillance so as to ensure the safety of the vehicle.
The US Air Force is demonstrating the use of hydrogen as an alternate fuel source at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
In a recent visit to JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, members of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Energy and Operations directorates were given a tour of the installation’s hydrogen production facility and shown several of the vehicles that use this alternative fuel. This project, with assets housed at the 647th Logistics Readiness Squadron and with the Hawaii Air National Guard, is part of a cooperative agreement between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies (HCATT).
This 25-passenger crew bus is one of the vehicles powered by a hydrogen fuel cell used at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in a demonstration of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source. (US Air Force photo by J. Brian Garmon) Click to enlarge.
This state organization supports the Hawaii ANG, the National Guard Bureau, and the US Air Force. It is tasked to demonstrate hydrogen technology and its potential applications within the Defense Department.
In areas such as Hawaii, where renewable energy resources account for a large portion of the grid’s total electrical capacity, intermittent renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, become less desirable. Continual sources of renewable energy, such as hydrogen, become an important focus in the shift towards cleaner, cost-effective energy. This is due to the need for a consistent supply of power to meet electrical load demands.
This hydrogen project has been in place for more than a decade, originally installed in 2006 as a mobile hydrogen production, compression, storage, and dispensing unit, and was upgraded in 2010. Both systems were set up to support all DoD hydrogen vehicle testing, to include both hydrogen internal combustion and fuel cell vehicles.
Some of the hydrogen vehicles currently supported by this station include a 25 passenger crew bus, a MJ-1E fighter weapons loader and a U-30 heavy aircraft tug.
HCATT’s partnership with AFRL, AFCEC, NGB, HIANG, and the invaluable support from Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, are key to the program’s success in demonstrating the versatility of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles within DoD. These proofs of concept not only provide alternate vehicle choices for the Air Force’s flight line of the future, but also will help the state of Hawaii in its effort to increase hydrogen usage across the islands.
—Stan Osserman, HCATT director
This project not only supports the Air Force’s goal of increasing its renewable energy usage, but also aligns with the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, launched originally in 2008. HCEI seeks to achieve the nation’s first 100% renewable portfolio standards by 2045 and to reduce petroleum use in Hawaii’s transportation sector.
Hydrogen fuel cell use is growing exponentially worldwide in the private sector. The DoD could benefit, on many different levels, by embracing the adaptability and scalability of hydrogen and fuel cell systems.
That’s right. A mere three years after giving up on battery electric vehicles to focus its attention on hybrids and hydrogen, Toyota seems to have done an about-face. USA Today is reporting that “Toyota could become Tesla’s next big headache” after a December 18th announcement from the Japanese automaker that it has plans to offer “an electrified option” for every one of its Toyota and Lexus models.
Sure, the fine print actually reads that “electrified options include all-electric, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, or hybrid,” but this is from a company that, in 2015, had a head of R&D who said stuff like, “The cruising distance is so short for EVs, and the charging time is so long. At the current level of technology, somebody needs to invent a Nobel Prize-winning type battery.”
That was then, it seems. As for now, it looks like Toyota wants to be a little more “Tesla competitive” in the coming years. At least when it comes to PR, anyway.
7-11 has contract Toyota to develop an exclusive line of hydrogen fuel cell powered delivery trucks. The move is part of a larger effort by 7-11 to reduce its carbon emissions in Japan and promote more environmentally friendly vehicles, in general.
The delivery trucks, themselves, will be built by Toyota’s Hino Motors unit. They will be exclusive to 7-11 (in the beginning, at least) and will be unique to the convenience store at the time of launch. The trucks will ferry goods to 7-11 locations from its delivery centers, with foll scale deployment and testing set to start sometime in 2019.
I know that (despite some positive news, of late) hydrogen has its detractors among Gas 2 readers, and some of you may think this all sounds like a low volume gimmick to generate some PR. Think again. 7-11 has more than 20,000 location in Japan alone, and those are serviced by more than 5,800 delivery trucks. At the moment, hybrids and other alt-fuel solutions make up about 15% of that fleet, but 7-11 has plans to increase that figure to at least 20% by 2020. If those end up being tailor-made for the company by Toyota, that will put almost twelve hundred new hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road.
Let us know if you think Toyota and 7-11 are on the right path towards reducing emissions and promoting green vehicle technology in the comments section, below.
Shell Oil seems to have acknowledged that the car of tomorrow will be powered by an electric motor, but the source of the electrons that power those motors is still a question mark. Shell thinks that the public’s familiarity with “filling up”, coupled to the “range anxiety” being expressed by the hundreds of thousands of car-buyers who chose a Nissan Versa over a Nissan Leaf over the past few years, will make hydrogen fuel cells an easier sell than a pure EV.
To welcome all those car of tomorrow driving- er- futurists, Shell and BMW have partnered up to design the slick-looking gas station you see here.
Shell Hydrogen Fuel Cell Fueling Station
It’s hard to say whether or not hydrogen fuel cells will be as big as BMW and Shell are hoping they’ll be- but there are other big players involved who are thinking along the same lines. Players like Honda, Toyota, General Motors, and even some of the major players in the convenience store space are betting big on hydrogen and biofuel.
What do you guys think? Are you ready for the big H, or do you find yourself agreeing with the Cleantechnica consensus that hydrogen could create more problems than it solved? Think it through, then let us know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Ever since Elon Musk tweeted about the Tesla Semi last week, news of heavy trucks that use something other than diesel engines has been coming in flurries. First, Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Potter warned investors that electric trucks could drive stock prices for legacy truck and component manufacturers lower. Now comes an announcement that Toyota will introduce fuel cell trucks to haul cargo from the busy ports in southern California to distribution centers located inland.
The Toyota initiative is called Project Portal and it is strongly supported by the California Air Resources Board and local regulators. Today, so called drayage trucks — tractors designed expressly for short haul movement of heavy cargo — are powered almost exclusively by diesel engines. The flood of manufactured goods from Asian countries coming into ports in and around Los Angeles means those drayage trucks are busy 24 hours a day.
The cloud of diesel emissions and pollutants they spew as they go has caused air quality in the area to be some of the poorest in the nation. The emissions from those trucks in a week would exceed all the illegal emissions from diesel Volkswagen cars, yet no one is suing the fossil fuel companies for putting millions of people at risk. Curious.
CARB and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are desperate to clean up the polluted skies and have dedicated $43 million to the purchase of low or zero emissions trucks to replace the diesels. BYD recently announced an expansion of its factory in Lancaster, California to manufacture electric trucks, some or which could be used in drayage operations.
Toyota’s fuel cell trucks will use two of the fuel cell stacks used in the Mirai in conjunction with a 12 kWh battery. They will have 670 horsepower and 1325 pound feet of torque available. The concept’s gross combined weight capacity is 80,000 lbs. Estimated driving range is more than 200 miles in normal drayage operation conditions.
The “Project Portal” feasibility study is set to begin this summer. “As they did with the Prius and the Mirai, Toyota is taking a leap into the future of technology. By bringing this heavy duty, zero emission hydrogen fuel cell proof of concept truck to the Port, Toyota has planted a flag that we hope many others will follow,” said Mary D. Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board (CARB). “CARB will be following the progress of this feasibility study with interest, as we look to develop the best mix of regulations and incentives to rapidly expand the market for the cleanest, most efficient big trucks to meet the need for dramatic change in the freight sector.”
“The Port of Los Angeles is excited to collaborate with Toyota to explore the feasibility of fuel cell technology for port drayage operations,” said Tony Gioiello, Deputy Executive Director of Port Development, Port of Los Angeles. “Our port and industry stakeholders have demonstrated their leadership in reducing pollution from port-related operations, and we see the potential of Toyota’s zero-emission heavy-duty truck technology as another solution to meet the long term goals of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan.”
Toyota is partnering with Shell to increase the number of hydrogen refueling stations in California. “Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles play a role in California’s efforts to achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, improve air quality, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Janea A.Scott, commissioner of the California Energy Commission. “That’s why the California Energy Commission is investing in the refueling infrastructure needed to support adoption of these vehicles. The Commission applauds Toyota for putting this cutting edge technology to use a heavy duty freight proof of concept. This demo will show how fuel cells can help support the heavy-duty sector’s efforts to increase efficiency, transition to zero-emission technologies, and increase competitiveness.”
The idea of hydrogen powered fuel cells appeals to many because the only byproducts are water and heat. But manufacturing hydrogen in a sustainable fashion and building enough hydrogen refueling stations are practical road blocks on the way to the dream of a zero emissions, hydrogen powered future.
Electric trucks for heavy hauling chores have their own set of hurdles to get over before they can begin to replace all the diesel powered heavy vehicles in the world. Fuel cells for certain dedicated routes may be more realistic than fuel cell cars — vehicles that could be used to venture far from their normal environments if only the infrastructure to refuel them existed. In the battle between fuel cell trucks and electric trucks, who will win? That’s a question that is very much open at the moment.
Royal Dutch Shell is one of the world’s largest petroleum companies. So why is it partnering with Toyota to build hydrogen fueling stations in California? “The enemy of the enemy is a friend,” says Toyota product manager Katsuhiko Hirose. When Tesla took nearly 380,000 reservations for the Model 3 last spring, it sent shock waves through the industry. Musk “threatens the oil companies, and the oil companies respond the other way,” adds Hirose. The other way in this instance is a firm embrace of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Shell has announced it will build 7 hydrogen fueling stations in The Golden State to help support Toyota and its fuel cell Mirai. California has set a goal of 100 fueling stations by 2024. The California Energy Board is considering throwing more than $16 million into the pot to help make that happen. “The Shell-Toyota partnership “shows there’s a lot of interest and that the hydrogen market is poised to move forward rapidly,” said Janea Scott, a member of the California commission. Shell and Toyota will pony up $11.4 million of their own money.
Wait a minute. That’s almost $20 million for 7 stations and someone thinks that’s a good idea? Apparently when your core business is under threat from electric cars, grasping at straws is a logical reaction. At least much of the hydrogen will be made by reforming natural gas, a fossil fuel that can help keep money pouring in to corporate coffers until the final collapse occurs. Shell’s response could be compared to polishing the silverware in the dining rooms of the Titanic as it hurtles toward the iceberg.
“Shell wants to be in the forefront of this technology,” said Oliver Bishop, general manager at Shell for hydrogen. The complexities of producing, storing and delivering the fuel necessitate “the support of governments and of car companies like Toyota to make it work. Hydrogen is clean. It’s flexible and has many applications. What’s not to like about it?” he asks.
Toyota believes that internal combustion engines will be banned one day and so it is planning to eliminate them from its product lineup by the year 2050. It is betting hydrogen fuel cells will replace most of them. “ When no more combustion of fuel is allowed, hydrogen will become one of the major sources of fuel, of that we’re confident,” says Kiyotaka Ise, Toyota’s president of advanced research and development and engineering. He thinks customers will prefer fuel cell cars over plug-in hybrids. The government of Japan is strongly backing the transition to hydrogen power. It will spend $400 million on hydrogen infrastructure before the 2020 Summer Olympics open in Tokyo.
Shell and Toyota are also part of a consortium that hopes to expand the hydrogen fueling network in Europe. Together with French fuel company Total, hydrogen companies Air Liquide and Linde, and 13 other companies, they have formed a global hydrogen council and will invest $10.7 billion in hydrogen related products over the next five years.
The case against hydrogen has been laid out in detail here at Gas2 on several occasions. It’s biggest allure seems to be that refueling a hydrogen powered car takes about the same amount of time as putting gas in a conventional car m(when the pumps work correctly). Billions of dollars are going to be spent because people can’t wait to recharge their electric cars? That makes no sense. The world is facing a full blown climate emergency and people are making enormous investments so drivers won’t suffer any inconvenience? Unbelievable. Not only that but charging times are coming down fast and will continue to fall.
Fuel cells could play an important role when it comes to moving freight and cargo. Container ships are some of the biggest polluters on the planet. Just 160 of those floating behemoths create more pollution than all the internal combustion vehicles in the world combined. Transitioning the world’s fleet of cargo vessels would be hugely important and would only require a hand full of fueling facilities at ports around the world. Hydrogen for passenger cars will need thousands of fueling stations at a cost of a $1 trillion or more.
Fuel cells could also play an important part in replacing diesel engines in heavy trucks, trains, buses, and other vehicles involved in transporting people and goods on a daily basis. But for private passenger cars? Hydrogen is precisely what Elon Musk called in years ago — bullshit. That remark inspired Toyota to create an amusing ad showing hydrogen being made from the methane emissions emanating from fresh cow dung.
While that ad may have provided a few chuckles, the fierceness with which fossil fuel companies and legacy automakers cling to the past in order to stave off the inevitable day of reckoning is, as Donald Trump might say, “Sad. So, so sad.”
Okay, file this under “Far out science news that may or may not be true and even if it is, so what?” Two researchers at Harvard University report that they have successfully created metallic hydrogen in laboratory conditions. Why is that a big deal? Well, first of all, it is one of those things that physicists always talk about among themselves as being theoretically possible. They just have never been able to do it.
Microscope images showing how hydrogen evolves from liquid hydrogen (200 GPa pressure), into “black” hydrogen and finally into metallic hydrogen at about 495 GPa pressure. Photo credit: Harvard University
Second, if there is such a thing as metallic hydrogen, it will upend science and technology in fundamental ways. It will be a room temperature superconductor, which means it could transform electronics. Anything and everything having to do with electricity — electric motors, maglev systems, and computers — would be orders of magnitude faster.
Supercomputers that are 10 times faster than anything available today would be possible. The Hyperloop would move a big step closer to reality with its ability to move people and things around the world faster than anyone ever thought possible. Metallic hydrogen could also be an ultra-dense rocket fuel, powering trips to Mars and other planets in ways never before imagined. The electrical grid would become many times more efficient, maximizing the power that can be created and distributed from renewable energy sources.
There’s only one problem. To make metallic hydrogen requires tremendous pressures and no one is sure what will happen when that pressure is removed. Will there be a bit of actual metal that can be touched and worked with or will the hydrogen just revert to its gaseous state? No one knows, least of all the scientists who conducted the experiment. Suffice it to say the announcement has met with significant skepticism from the scientific community.
Harvard professor Isaac Silvera and postdoctoral fellow Ranga Dias say they created metallic hydrogen by placing it under previously unimaginable pressure — 495 gigapascal or more than 71.7 million pounds per square inch. Let’s put that into perspective. The pressure at the center of the earth is a mere 365 gigapascal. It is 4.9 million times the pressure at the Earth’s surface and equivalent to the pressure of the water over your head if you had the misfortune to be standing at the bottom of an ocean that is 49,150 kilometers deep.
“This is the Holy Grail of high pressure physics,” Silvera said of the quest to find the material. “It’s the first ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you’re looking at it, you’re looking at something that’s never existed before.” He goes on to say, “One prediction that’s very important is metallic hydrogen is predicted to be meta-stable. That means if you take the pressure off, it will stay metallic, similar to the way diamonds form from graphite under intense heat and pressure, but remain diamonds when that pressure and heat are removed.” Maybe. That’s the part that hasn’t been proven yet.
The researchers are enthusiastic about the potential for metallic hydrogen. “It takes a tremendous amount of energy to make metallic hydrogen,” Silvera explains. “And if you convert it back to molecular hydrogen, all that energy is released, so that would make it the most powerful rocket propellant known to man, and could revolutionize rocketry.” In theory, metallic hydrogen would have more than 4 times the power of the most powerful rocket fuel known to science. “That would easily allow you to explore the outer planets,” Silvera said. “We would be able to put rockets into orbit with only one stage, versus two, and could send up larger payloads, so it could be very important.”
“Junk science,” says physicist Eugen Gregoryantz at the University of Edinburgh according to a report in Norwegian news source Side 3. He thinks the experiment has several flaws. Others are taking a wait and see attitude. “If this is true, then it will be fantastic. This is something we’ve been working towards for decades,” says Carnegie Mellon researcher Reinhard Boehler. In fact, the existence of metallic hydrogen was originally postulated more than 100 years ago.
Is there anything to this story other than a topic of conversation at the next International Congress of Nerds? Maybe not, but as the head of the US Patent Office famously declared on New Year’s Eve, 1899, “Everything that can be invented has now been invented.” Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open. This may not be anything that affects your life or mine today or even in the foreseeable future but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect the lives of future generations.
There is perhaps no mainstream automaker that has been more dismissive of electric vehicles than Toyota. So imagine my surprise when I read the Japanese automaker’s announcement that it had observed lithium-ion deviation in batteries, allowing for as much as a 15% increase in range and capacity of current battery technology. Is Toyota having second thoughts when it comes to hydrogen fuel-cell technology?
“The lithium-ion battery is a key technology for electrifying cars, and there is a clear need, going forward, for improving this technology and its performance even more,” said Toyota battery technology researcher Hisao Yamashige in the announcement. The so-called lithium ion deviation, which occurs in electrodes and the electrolyte as a result of charging/discharging, is believed to be responsible for both peak battery performance and eventual degradation, though researchers aren’t exactly sure why as the deviation was not possible to observe with standard scientific instruments.
Instead, Toyota turned to the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility which, according to Wikipedia, “…is used for materials analysis and biochemical protein characterization by many Japanese manufacturers and universities.” The facility also grants free use of their equipment, so long as the companies publish their results. I’m guessing Toyota saved quite a bit of money by sharing it with the public.
Toyota’s corporate line has been that electric vehicles are only good for short-range driving, and that hydrogen fuel-cells are a better option as a replacement for current car technology. Just last month, however, the automaker was rumored to be preparing a line of long-range electric vehicles for launch in 2020. Armed with this new information, Toyota could have a sizable advantage over other traditional automakers if it can offer 15% more driving range at a comparable price.
The flip side of this coin is that Toyota Mirai sales haven’t exactly been booming, hindered by a slow rollout of hydrogen fueling stations. Has Toyota seen the light? Or is the automaker merely keeping its options open?
The clock is ticking, but we may still see a third hydrogen fuel-cell car go on sale in certain regions of California—alongside the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell and Toyota Mirai—before the end of the year.
The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell will be available through certain California dealerships before the year is out, its maker says.
Honda now says the Clarity Fuel Cell will be available to lease at $369 a month, for 36 months.
This lease requires customers to put down $2,499 and the first month's payment at signing.
It also includes a mileage allowance of 20,000 miles a year, and a few perks.
Honda is offering customers "up to $15,000" of free hydrogen, 21 days of Avis Luxury Rental car rentals (within the state of California), and 24/7 roadside assistance.
2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
Leasing will only be available to California residents who live or work near one of the 12 Honda dealerships designated to sell the Clarity Fuel Cell.
That contingent includes six dealerships in Southern California, five in the Bay Area, and one in the state capital of Sacramento.
Honda—along with Hyundai and Toyota—only plans to sell fuel-cell cars in California for the time being because it is the only state with a substantial network of fueling stations.
In a press release announcing the lease, Honda said the car would arrive at dealerships "by the end of 2016," and advised interested consumers to sign up on the Clarity Fuel Cell web page "for the opportunity to become a Clarity Fuel Cell customer."
Given that Honda previously said the Clarity Fuel Cell would carry a price of "around $60,000," the $369-a-month lease represents fairly aggressive pricing.
Toyota recently lowered its Mirai lease rate from $499 a month to $349 a month (the car has a base price of $58,365).
2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
That led to a spike in sales, with most of the cars going to Toyota employees.
The Clarity Fuel Cell's EPA-rated 366-mile range far outstrips the Mirai's 312-mile range, as well as the 265-mile range of the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell.
In addition to the fuel-cell model, Honda also plans to offer plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions of the Clarity—providing the first real-world market test of consumer preferences among alternative powertrains.
It started when the tidal wave swept over the Fukushima nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011. Up until that point, Japan was relying on nuclear power to provide the majority of its electrical energy. Afterwards, it decided fairly quickly to pin all its energy hopes on hydrogen. The Japanese government put pressure on the domestic car companies — primarily Toyota and Honda — to focus almost exclusively on hydrogen fuel cell technology. It put out the word that the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo would be a celebration of clean hydrogen power.
Hydrogen is a very appealing fuel. When you run it through a fuel cell, it makes electricity that can power an electric motor. The only by-products are water vapor and heat. How could anything be greener than that?
There are a few problems with hydrogen, though. For one, it does not exist in its pure form in nature. Hydrogen is the most reactive of all the elements, which means it combines like crazy with just about any other element. Add a few oxygen atoms and you get water. Throw carbon into the mix and you get oil and natural gas. Breaking the chemical bonds between hydrogen and oxygen — or hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon — takes enormous amounts of energy. In fact, in most cases the energy that needs to go in exceeds the energy available in the hydrogen that results.
Oh, there’s one more little issue. There are fewer hydrogen refueling stations than there are Donald Trump supporters in Mexico City. If you happen to own a car that runs on hydrogen, like the Toyota Mirai, you are pretty much limited to driving within a 50 mile radius of the nearest station.
One more little quibble, hardly worth mentioning. A fuel cell does not make enough electricity to hurl a car down a drag strip at eye watering speeds. The acceleration available is modest at best. Don’t expect to see any videos of a Mirai outgunning a Ferrari or a Dodge Hellcat in a race. Not gonna happen. Toyota went so far as to run a YouTube campaign mocking electric cars, especially Teslas, after Elon Musk labeled fuel cell cars as “bullshit.” Those videos are no longer available for public viewing.
Just last week, Koji Toyoshima, the chief engineer for the Toyota Prius, told the world that Toyota now believes it has the technology available to make lithium ion batteries safe to use in passenger cars. A week later comes word that Toyota is actually going to make an electric car. In fact, development will start next year with the first cars due in 2020. That story was reported by Nikkei, a Japanese business newspaper.
Toyota has refused to confirm or deny the report which says the first electric cars from Toyota would have a range of 186 miles. If that is the number from the Japanese rating standard, the actual EPA rated mileage would be roughly 25% less or around 140 miles. In that case, the electric cars from Toyota, when and if they ever go on sale, will have less range than most of their competitors. For instance, the Chevy Bolt that goes into production later this year has 100 miles more range. By 2020, 140 miles will be laughably low.
“Toyota has been a major hold-out on EVs, but it appears that it now realizes that without them it may be difficult to satisfy tightening regulations,” said Takeshi Miyao, managing director of consultancy Carnorama. “Not (including EVs as an option) would run the risk that it could face sales restrictions in some areas.”All Toyota will say is that it continues to develop various fuel efficient technologies, including EVs, with the best application for each in mind. By 2020, Toyota will be 8 years behind Tesla in making electric cars. Good luck clawing back market share already lost to Tesla by then.
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