Toyota Making Headway In Fuel Cell Technology

Anthony Fontanelle
November 19, 2007

Toyota is arguably the leading automaker when it comes to developing green cars. Its Prius started the hybrid craze in the United States and the Japanese outfit has already sold more than a million hybrid vehicles across the world. But another technology apart from hybrid technology is being considered as the future of green car manufacturing. And once again, Toyota is leading the charge in the development of the said technology.

The use of fuel cells on vehicles has been studied carefully as it is being considered as the greenest vehicle propulsion technology. In this technology, hydrogen is used as fuel. Hydrogen fuel is seen as the best alternative to petroleum fuel as it only gives off water as its emission. Recently, Toyota revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show that they have succeeded in traveling 2,300 miles on a fuel cell powered vehicle.

The Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle or FCHV traveled from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia. It successfully crossed the Alaskan-Canadian highway. The success of the testing shows that the automaker is making headway in the development of fuel cell operated vehicles for mass production.

The durability of the fragile fuel cells is one of the foremost problems encountered by automakers like Toyota in the development of hydrogen vehicles. With the 2,300-mile trek completed, Toyota has shown that they have cleared that obstacle. They will now be working on making their fuel cells even more reliable and safer for consumers. The seven-day travel also tested the vehicle's fuel cell's operation in cold weather. And the result for that test is also successful.

The idea for the 2,300-mile travel is taken from Toyota's other effort in Japan where they tested a hydrogen-powered vehicle 348 miles on one tank of hydrogen. Bob Carter, the Toyota Division vice president and general manager, explains saying: "When our Torrance-based product planners and engineers heard about Toyota Motor Corporation's (TMC) plan to run a distance of 348 miles from Osaka, Japan to Tokyo on a single tank of hydrogen, they thought it was a great idea... that probably didn't go far enough in showing how far this new system had advanced."

"When our Torrance-based product planners and engineers heard about Toyota Motor Corporation's (TMC) plan to run a distance of 348 miles from Osaka, Japan to Tokyo on a single tank of hydrogen, they thought it was a great idea... that probably didn't go far enough in showing how far this new system had advanced," continued Carter.

This success by Toyota will usher in a new era as other automakers will be aiming to overtake Toyota in mass producing hydrogen powered vehicles. Japanese, American, European, and even Korean automakers like Hyundai which manufactures durable Hyundai Excel radiators will soon be coming up with their own version of a fuel cell powered vehicle.

Source:  Amazines.com