Toyota's Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car Coming to U.S. in 2015
June 25, 2014
Toyota today revealed the exterior design of its hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, expected to launch in the U.S. and Europe next summer.
Toyota unveiled the concept car at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, and today gave the media a full look at its finalized design.
The vehicle will hit Japanese lots before April, priced at around 7 million yen ($68,660). Initial sales will be limited to those regions where hydrogen refueling infrastructure is available.
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Hydrogen is a particularly promising alternative fuel, according to Toyota, thanks to its easy accessibility via solar and wind power, not to mention the fact that, when compressed, it boasts a higher energy density than batteries, and is easier to store and transport.
The Japan-based manufacturing giant has made great strides since it began leasing a fuel-cell hybrid SUV (Toyota FCHV) in 2002. The sedan revealed today, for instance, features performance similar to that of a gasoline-engine vehicle, with a cruising range of 700 km (435 miles) and a refueling time of about three minutes.
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BY JOE ROMM APRIL 5, 2013 AT 12:23 PM UPDATED: APRIL 5, 2013 AT 2:16 PM
Capital cost, not hydrogen supply, will limit adoption to a mere 5.9 GW, dashing dreams of a revolutionary energy future, says Lux Research
As I’ve said for a decade now, hydrogen fuel cells are not going to be a significant, cost-effective CO2 reducer. In a 2005 journal article, “The car and fuel of the future,” I noted that:
Using fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen from zero-carbon sources such as renewable power or nuclear energy has a cost of avoided carbon dioxide of more than $600 a metric ton, which is more than a factor of ten higher than most other strategies being considered today….
A 2013 study by independent research and advisory firm Lux Research finds that despite billions in research and development spent in the past decade, “The dream of a hydrogen economy envisioned for decades by politicians, economists, and environmentalists is no nearer, with hydrogen fuel cells turning a modest $3 billion market of about 5.9 GW in 2030.”
Hydrogen fuel cells won’t be a major contributor to solving the problem of manmade climate change until the market is 100 times larger, which simply won’t happen fast enough to matter to the climate fight, even in the unlikely event they ever become a cost-effective CO2 reducer.
The Lux study, “The Great Compression: The Future of the Hydrogen Economy” (client subs. req’d), finds that “hydrogen demand from fuel cells will total 140 million kg in 2030, a meager 0.56% of global hydrogen demand.”...
More at http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/05/1422411/study-hobbled-by-high-cost-hydrogen-fuel-cells-will-be-a-modest-3-billion-market-in-2030/
