Toyota’s next-generation technology will substantially reduce costs.
Japanese automotive giant Toyota is confident that with the utilisation of next-generation technology, it will be able to bring its hydrogen-powered vehicles to market at substantially lower prices, putting them in competition with mass-market models that the company presently sells. The company’s executives were particularly chatty at the ongoing Tokyo motor show, and spoke at length about the company’s concrete hydrogen plans for the future.
Toyota’s general manager of new business planning, Naomichi Hata, is confident that the growth potential for its hydrogen vehicles are exponential, and uses the existing Mirai hydrogen saloon as an example.
“In the early 2020s we will launch the next-generation hydrogen fuel stack technology, which will provide a substantial move forward. Toyed, production of the Mirai is limited to 3,000 cars a year, but by 2025, we expect that figure to be 10-times higher.” — Naomichi Hata, General Manager (New Business Planning), Toyota Motor Company
The comments Naomichi Hata made to Autocar falls right in line with Toyota’s thinking on the matter of future mobility, as the company and its executives hold the opinion that the real replacement of the conventional internal-combustion vehicle is actually the hydrogen fuel-cell car, and not the pure battery-electric vehicle that presently represents the next step in mobility.
“Both hybrids and EVs are merely bridging technologies on the way to the solution, which is hydrogen. The problem with EVs is a simple matter of chemistry — we won’t be able to get the charging times down. I’ve worked with batteries enough to know that fast-charging a battery is about the second worst thing you can do to it. There are two ways to abuse a battery: Overheat it, or fast-charge it.” — Paul Williamsen, Manager for International Strategic Communications, Lexus
It was at the Tokyo motor show that the company announced that the next-generation of hydrogen fuel-cell technology will be significantly more cost-effective to produce, and will be substantially more efficient as well. As a result, the company expects to experience exponential growth from its hydrogen models, which will in turn allow the company to lower costs further with rising scales and production numbers.
It isn’t forsaking battery-electric propulsion altogether though, as the company still sees space for them insofar as urban mobility is concerned. To that end, they are working on solid-state battery technology that is expected to be production-viable by 2022, and will likely to a long way in increasing the long-range abilities of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles too. Solid-state batteries utilise solid electrolytes rather than liquid ones, and increase volumetric energy density to levels far superior than existing lithium-ion jobbies. Experts have claimed that with the advent of solid-state batteries, we can enjoy drastically-reduced charging times while using existing charging infrastructure, eschewing the need for solutions like Tesla’s Supercharger.
“It is considered that all-solid batteries are the most close to the level of practical application. We are working on research and development, including the production engineering of all-solid batteries to commercialise them by the early 2020s. These various next-generation batteries have high potential, however they have some challenges and have not reached the level of the current liquid batteries. They are at the stage where they could prove performance in principle in the laboratory, and we need a breakthrough for practical use. Therefore, we need to further research and development for these batteries.” – Toyota spokesperson
They’re certainly exciting times for mobility, as we continue to search for the ultimate replacement for the internal combustion engine in the face of climate change and ecological sustainability. Hyundai’s also on the fuel-cell bandwagon too, having released an SUV concept earlier this year that previewed a possible hydrogen-powered future for itself too. However, hydrogen technology isn’t for everyone, because Volvo’s top management have their reservations on the matter too, and have taken the position that it’s simply not for them.
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