Electric cars steal all the limelight but when it comes to greener, cleaner cars, but Japanese car manufacturers are in favor of hydrogen powered vehicles.
Honda, Nissan and Toyota have announced a partnership with ten Japanese energy companies in a drive to lower the production price of hydrogen fuel cell cars and build 100 fuelling stations in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya by 2015.
A statement issued by the companies said: “With an aim to significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by the transportation sector, automakers and hydrogen fuel suppliers will work together to expand the introduction of FCVs and develop the hydrogen supply network throughout Japan.”
Toyota is something of a pioneer in the green car market; it’s already the leader in hybrid vehicle sales and intends to sell only plug-in hybrid and battery-powered cars come 2012. It has also made significant strides in the mission to make hydrogen cars more affordable and address some of the technical problems which have plagued the development of product-ready hydrogen-powered technology.
According to Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s executive vice president for research and product development, the company has cut production costs to less than $100,000 and it intends to halve the price by the time sales begin (in 2015). In an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Uchiyamada said, “I have high expectations for fuel-cell vehicles as a candidate for next-generation cars. Over the past several years, we’ve seen many of the outstanding technical issues solved.”
Initially, Toyota will sell its hydrogen cars in countries and cities with developed fuelling systems, such as Japan, Germany and California, USA, but the dream is to expand to global automobile markets.
Meanwhile, Honda has been leasing hydrogen sedans in LA for around two years now. LA has a number of hydrogen fuelling stations, which makes it one of the best markets in which to test the efficiency of hydrogen cars in real life. It has similar programmes in Japan and a handful of countries in Europe.
One of the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells is that they are more powerful than electric engines and, according to Uchiyamada, the cruising distance is almost comparable to petrol engine cars. The two biggest disadvantages of hydrogen cars are the cost and lack of fuelling networks. But as more car manufacturers take the plunge and dedicate themselves to developing the technology properly, these concerns will be quickly overcome. For instance, Toyota’s current solution to cost involves high-pressure hydrogen tanks and fuel-cell stacks.
With a little more forward thinking we could all soon be puttering around in cars that are no more toxic than the water vapour they emit, and that would be driving pleasure indeed.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
