First hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles edges closer to the road

After dramatically reducing the cost of the technology used in hydrogen fuel-cell cars, Toyota Motor Corp. believes it will be able to produce its first hydrogen-powered car within the next five years.

At about $50,000, the vehicle that hits the road will still not be cheap, the head of the company's advanced vehicles division has told reporters in California, but it will mark a major step forward in the fight against emissions of greenhouse gases.

And with the price of regular gasoline in Japan rising Y1.20 (€0.01) to Y138.70 (€1.14) per litre in the first week of May - increasing for the ninth consecutive week - the breakthrough is likely to be embraced by motorists as well.

Yoshihiko Masuda said the first model will be a sedan that has a driving range that is equivalent to a car powered by conventional gasoline, but that it will have "some extra cost."

Toyota has been able to cut production costs to around one-tenth of earlier estimates and aims to further reduce that figure by the time the vehicle goes into commercial production.

"Our target is that we do not lose money with the introduction of the vehicle," Masuda said. "Production costs should be covered within the price of the vehicle."

Research into hydrogen vehicles has taken a backseat in comparison to electric vehicles in recent years, primarily because of the costs involved. On top of the production of the vehicles, there is a need to build the associated infrastructure to enable drivers to top up their tanks.

On the plus side, they provide greater range and faster fueling than electric vehicles, while hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and the only byproduct of the power plant is water.

Toyota did study the use of a methanol reformer aboard a vehicle in the past as providing methanol to gas stations would be a far easier proposition, company spokesman Paul Nolasco told Relaxnews, but the project was dropped because the equipment required too much space inside the vehicle.

The new vehicle will be based on research projects that are presently underway and utilize compressed hydrogen stored in four high-pressure tanks aboard the vehicle, he said.

As well as Toyota, Honda Motor Co., General Motors Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Daimler AG are all working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the race is now on to bring the first model to market.