Having invested heavily in hydrogen, a technology derided by Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk as “incredibly dumb,” Toyota Motor Corp is making a renewed push for fuel cell cars to fill a role in a future dominated by electric battery vehicles.
Japan’s biggest automaker believes both technologies — all-electric battery cars like the Tesla Model X on one hand and Toyota’s hydrogen Mirai on the other — will be needed to fully usurp gasoline cars.
“We don’t really see an adversary ‘zero-sum’ relationship between the EV [electric vehicle] and the hydrogen car,” Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada said ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show. “We’re not about to give up on hydrogen electric fuel-cell technology at all.”
Photo: Reuters
Toyota began pitching its fuel-cell car as a mainstream gasoline car alternative in 2014 when it launched the Mirai with a price tag of ￥7.24 million — almost US$70,000 at the time.
The car has since been launched in the US and other countries around the world, but initial excitement has faded as major markets including China and Europe have tilted heavily toward electric vehicles.
Just 4,300 Mirais have been sold, compared with about 4 million units of the Prius, Toyota’s blockbuster hybrid that ushered in the age of the EV.
Uchiyamada, who is known as the “father of the Prius,” says Toyota is not anti-EV and is investing heavily in technologies such all solid-state lithium-ion batteries to make them more desirable.
However, it also sees some advantages for hydrogen cars, which are propelled by electricity generated by fuel cells.
One major issue facing EVs is the length of time they take to charge — up to 18 hours in some cases — a problem being amplified as automakers pack in more batteries to extend range.
Rapid charging technology is helping to solve this issue.
However, a 30 to 40-minute wait is still too long for many ordinary drivers with busy lives, said Yoshikazu Tanaka, the chief engineer in charge of Toyota’s Mirai.
What is worse, rapid charging when used too often compromises battery life significantly, he and other engineers said.
While a hydrogen car can refuel in under five minutes, the high cost of the technology and a lack of refueling stations is a problem, something Toyota has been focused on addressing.
The company has joined forces in Japan with rivals Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co, and with energy companies such as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy to build a network of refueling stations that now totals 91.
Making the fuel-cell system more efficient and trying to gain more propulsion power from a given amount of hydrogen will be key, Tanaka said.
He also wants to package the vehicle more efficiently to gain more storage space for larger fuel tanks.
Toyota says one of the most promising markets for hydrogen cars is China — a key advocate of electric cars, but one that is also beginning to embrace fuel-cell technology.
Shanghai last month announced plans to promote development of fuel-cell vehicles by adding hydrogen refueling stations, subsidizing companies developing fuel-cell technologies, and setting up research and development facilities.
Toyota was set to test hydrogen fuel-cell cars in China this month to determine the feasibility of selling the Mirai there.
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