Toyota inches closer to fuel-cell reality
Firm shows off its latest iteration of hydrogen fuel-cell technology
TOYOTA CITY, Japan The automotive world has long recognized the fuel cell is the best candidate to replace the gasoline-powered engine — when and how this will happen is the subject of debate. The problem has been the number of hurdles the fuel cell must clear. None are insurmountable, but cumulatively they have represented a serious challenge to the day they will rule the road.
Toyota’s new FCV concept, a car slated to go into production in 2015, clears all of the hurdles in fine style except the infrastructure issue.
One of the biggest hurdles has been the space required by the fuel-cell system — this is why most have been based on sport utes. First and foremost is the fuel-cell stack. This has typically required at least 140 litres of space to house the stack. Toyota’s new stack is, visually, about one-third smaller than the company’s current stack, and so it’s small enough to sit beneath the floor under the front passengers. It also has, according to Toyota, the best power density in the world — at 3.0-kilowatts per litre it boasts a healthy 100-kW output.
The next packaging hurdle has been the hydrogen supply. As it is not feasible to store the hydrogen in a form other than under extremely high pressure, space became a very real hurdle. Toyota’s Highlander-based FCHV-adv has four tanks mounted beneath the vehicle. The upcoming FVC will have two completely new tanks that maintain the range while dropping the space requirement by roughly half.
The final bugaboo has been the fact the fuel-cell stack started to show signs of aging after around 1,500 hours of use — a little more than three years of normal driving. Toyota says its newest stack will last for 15 years, which would put it on par with any gasoline engine.
Much to my surprise and, frankly, amazement I managed to get from rest to 100 km/h remarkably easily in the allotted space. In the end, the test mule cantered to 100 km/h in 9.8 seconds, which is right there with a similarly sized gasoline-powered car.
Sadly, the test drive was short (two laps of a track), but it was enough to prove that Toyota’s latest fuel-cell stack is more than capable of keeping up with the electric motor’s demand, even when it is being taxed to the max. Toyota’s new fuel-cell system also delivers a real-world driving range of 650 kilometres.
Carlos Ghosn recently dismissed fuel cells because of the lack of an infrastructure. That may be true, but it also holds for the number of fastcharge stations needed to make the all-electric car truly viable. Unlike the electric-only conveyance, a fuel cell can be totally refuelled in about three minutes, which is right on par with the time required to pump gas. An electric car, at best, needs eight times that and even then it’s only an 80 per cent charge.
In other words, the fuel cell is a realistic zero-emission vehicle that does not require many hours to return it to a serviceable condition.
The FCV will debut in Europe, Japan and North America in 2015. The sad part is that, as there is not a single high-pressure hydrogen refuelling station in Canada, we are unlikely to see the FCV, which is a crying shame.