Toyota's Fuel Cell Sedan unveiled

Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, has taken wraps off the exterior of its Fuel Cell Sedan, which was unveiled as a concept at the Tokyo Motor Show 2013. Toyota states that the car will be launched before the April of 2014 for the Japanese market, which will be soon followed by the US and European launches. The sedan is priced at 7 million yen in Japan, which is about Rs 41.4 lakh (excluding duties). In the beginning, sales of the FCV will be limited to regions with a developing Hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. Other variables for this product, such as specifications, exact pricing, sales targets, will be announced later by Toyota.

Toyota has been constantly developing the FC system since 2002. The new fuel cell sedan features performance similar to a petrol engine vehicle.  The new system would be capable of a cruising range of nearly 700 kilometres (according to Toyota measurements taken under the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s JC08 test cycle), with a refuelling time of roughly three minutes. All that emits out the exhaust is water vapour produced by the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Toyota’s commitment to environment-friendly vehicles is based on three basic principles: embracing diverse energy sources; developing efficient, low-emission vehicles; and driving real and positive environmental change by popularising fuel cell vehicles.

When it comes to the future fuel for mobility, Hydrogen is a particularly promising alternative as it can be produced using a wide variety of primary energy sources, including solar and wind power. Hybrid vehicles are a very clean thought for the environment, but they are still not widely accepted. We also got to live with one of Toyota's Hybrid offerings in India, which you may read here

Under compression, hydrogen has a higher energy density than batteries and then it is easier to store and transport it. Added to its potential use to fuel automobiles and homes, hydrogen could be used for large-scale power generation.

It has been more than 20 years since Toyota started developing fuel cell vehicles in-house. Toyota’s fuel cell system includes a proprietary FC Stack, which generates electricity from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks. In 2002, Toyota began leasing the “Toyota FCHV”, a fuel cell SUV, on a limited basis in Japan and the U.S. Fuel cell vehicles contribute to the diversification of automobile fuels, emit no CO2 or environmentally harmful substances during operation, and offer the convenience of gasoline-powered cars. Toyota believes they have a great deal of potential, and are ideal environment-friendly vehicles for promoting a sustainable mobility society.