Toyota Motor Corp, the world's third-largest automaker, will lease its hydrogen-powered, fuel-cell passenger vehicles to the Japanese government from Dec. 2.
The world's largest automaker by market value will lease the fuel-cell hybrid vehicles, or FCHVs, under 30-month leases for Japanese Yen 1.2 million (US$9,921) a month, it said in a statement. The monthly cost is about the same as buying a 1-liter compact car in Japan.
"It's not a viable option in the short- to mid-term for everyday consumers" because of the price, said Kurt Sanger, an analyst at ING Securities (Japan) Ltd. "But it's an important step to develop fuel cell vehicles," he said, adding that it's vital for the government to participate in the program to make the fuel-cell vehicles more popular.
Automakers are investing billions of dollars to develop autos that meet stricter environmental rules. Fuel cells, used in spacecraft for decades, create electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, and under ideal conditions produce only steam as a byproduct. Toyota in 1997 began selling in Japan the low-emission Prius, the world's first gasoline-electric car.
Toyota will initially lease one FCHV to each of four ministries -- the Cabinet Secretariat, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation and the Ministry of the Environment. The company said it will eventually lease the models to other government organizations and energy-related businesses.
The FCHV weighs 1,860kg, compared with a typical 1,200kg-1,500kg for a sport-utility vehicle. The fuel-cell vehicle can reach speeds as high as 155kph, Toyota said.
The maker of Camry sedans accelerated plans to lease its FCHV after road tests in Japan and the US, Toyota said. The automaker said it's "on track" to lease the FCHV this year in the US and will soon release details on its plans.
A total of 20 of the vehicles, based on the Kluger-V sport-utility vehicle, will be leased to organizations and companies in Japan and the US, the company said in July. The Kluger-V is sold in the US as the Highlander.
Toyota shares fell 1.9 percent to Japanese Yen 3,120 at the end of Tokyo trading. Honda shares were unchanged at Japanese Yen 4,400 and Nissan shares fell 3.6 percent to Japanese Yen 945.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS