Toyota Motor Corp yesterday unveiled its next-generation hydrogen-powered Mirai model at the Tokyo Motor Show, but with the technology still lagging behind electric, the Japanese firm is hoping for an Olympic boost.
The firm is a lead sponsor of the global sporting event through 2024 and would include about 500 of the new fuel-cell vehicles in a 3,700-strong fleet to be used during the Tokyo Games next summer.
Adoption of fuel-cell electric vehicles has been slow compared with electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries.
Photo: AFP
By the end of last year, there were just 381 hydrogen stations in service worldwide, while there were 5.2 million lithium-ion battery recharge stops.
Supporters say the technology has plenty to offer in the transition to climate-friendly vehicles, including zero carbon dioxide emissions from operation, faster recharging and more range per recharge.
However, both vehicles and infrastructure remain expensive, in part because of the dangers posed by highly flammable and explosive hydrogen, while there are also concerns about the way the fuel is produced.
Almost all current hydrogen production comes from fossil fuels, generating annual carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to those of Britain and Indonesia combined, the International Energy Agency said.
“At the moment the technology is not very mature,” said Takeshi Miyao, head of consulting firm Carnorama. “You need a lot of energy to produce hydrogen.”
However, some experts believe more efficient hydrogen production would follow naturally if demand for the vehicles increases.
“Once the market is there, this will enable large-scale investment in low-carbon hydrogen,” said Erwin Penfornis, vice president for hydrogen Asia-Pacific at the French firm Air Liquide SA.
It is that demand Toyota is hoping to stir at the Olympics next year, aiming to also boost the number of its Sora hydrogen buses on the roads of Tokyo from 15 to 100 by the summer.
Toyota released its first-generation Mirai at the end of 2014 and has had modest success so far, selling just 10,000 units of the model, whose name means “future” in Japanese.
Yesterday it unveiled a second-generation model, promising up to 30 percent more driving range.
The vehicle is set to hit the market late next year, with no price tag yet announced.
The firm is also boosting production capacity in Japan, aiming to deliver 30,000 fuel-cell vehicles a year by 2021, which is 10 times more than current capacity.
Analysts have said that it would be smart for hydrogen-powered vehicle producers to focus on commercial vehicles initially.
“The focus on commercial vehicles makes it easier to deal with the challenge of developing a network of refueling centers, as commercial vehicles typically operate on predictable routes,” Macquarie Capital Securities Japan Ltd analyst Janet Lewis said.
“As the infrastructure gets built out, there could be renewed interest ... for passenger use, which for now is likely to remain a niche area,” Lewis said.
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