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Archives for November 18, 2014

Toyota Mirai: Fuel Cell Future Realized

November 18, 2014 by admin 3 Comments

Toyota turns a new chapter in green driving.

2016 Toyota Mirai
The not-too-distant in the future 2016 Toyota Mirai.

The 2016 Toyota Mirai is making its global debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. For the first time since its Prius line was released in the 1990s, Toyota is shifting its green car bets slightly to incorporate a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). “Mirai” is Japanese for future as this advanced model can go 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Refills take only five minutes to complete; its only emission is water vapor.

Toyota, like several other manufacturers, have been testing fuel cell vehicles for many years. Earlier this year Hyundai leapfrogged the competition by releasing a fuel cell version of its Tucson crossover utility vehicle, a model available in California only.

Toyota, Air Liquide Agreement

Toyota has California in mind too, but plans to sell the Mirai well beyond the Golden State. In advance of the FCEV’s official debut, Toyota North America chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Lentz announced that five northeastern states will get the Mirai in 2016, about a year after California. Lentz said that Toyota is putting the final touches on an agreement it has made with the French industrial gas company Air Liquide, to serve its customers.

As part of the agreement, Air Liquide is developing a network of 12 new hydrogen filling stations spanning from metropolitan Boston to the Greater New York area, in a bid to help owners drive uninterrupted. Thus, the Toyota Mirai will eventually be made available to customers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.


See: Honda Debuts FCV Concept Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle


Beyond Prius: Toyota Mirai

The Mirai may represent a bigger gamble for Toyota than its original foray into green vehicles. In the 1990s, Toyota began to produce its first hybrid gas electric vehicles dubbing that model Prius, Latinized for “before.” Then, Toyota was busy patenting the process and ensuring that its nickel-metal hydride battery could do the job.

The Prius went on sale in Japan first and arrived in the US six months after the Honda Insight in 2001. Very soon, however, Prius became the standard bearer for hybrids while Honda became mostly an afterthought for people prizing fuel efficient and clean driving.

Honda also got the FCEV jump on Toyota by introducing its FCX Clarity sedan in 2008. That model went to a handful of mostly high-profile clients, including actress Jaime Lee Curtis, but a full-blown production model has been pushed back to at least 2016. And even as Hyundai has the bragging rights for first production FCEV, larger Toyota just may have the resources to expand its market presence faster.

Toyota Mirai Details Forthcoming

There are a lot of things we don’t yet know about the Mirai, details that will most likely be covered in today’s news conference. Toyota may have given us enough news to pique our interest, while remaining mum on the particulars.

Even with its own investment in helping to expand California’s hydrogen filling station network, it is the lack of stations currently online today that will give buyers reason to pause and consider. Indeed, there are 11 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States and nine are in California according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Some 49 additional stations are under development in the Golden State, but there are no plans in place to expand beyond California except for what will be coming online in the northeast corridor.

Owners of pure electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf have always had access to electrical hookups wherever they have traveled, but FCEV owners must carefully consider their routes or risk becoming stranded. Until or unless federal policy changes, the act of bringing such filling stations online will likely stay in the hands of two industries: automotive and fuel.

Hydrogen-Related Articles

UC Davis Study Shows Confidence in Hydrogen

New Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle Priced Near $70,000

Arrived: 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell

California Hydrogen Refueling Network Receives Backing From Toyota

Toyota Mirai photo copyright the manufacturer.

Filed Under: Automotive News Tagged With: 2016 cars, AIR LIQUIDE, FCEV, FUEL CELL ELECTRIC VEHICLE, HONDA, HYDROGEN FILLING STATION, Hyundai, JIM LENTZ, LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW, Toyota Mirai

Honda Debuts FCV Concept Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

November 18, 2014 by admin 5 Comments

Honda’s newest green car will debut in 2016.

Honda FCV Concept.

Honda’s next generation fuel cell electric vehicle.

Just as Toyota revealed its own fuel cell electric vehicle in advance of the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda has unveiled its FCV Concept. Like most Honda concepts, the FCV Concept is based largely on a vehicle that the company says will go on sale in Japan in March 2016, followed by markets in the United States and Europe. Honda also made related sketches available to the media to coincide with the debut.

Besides the concept vehicle, Honda also showed a related Honda Power Exporter Concept, representing a concept model for an external power feeding device that enables AC power output from the FCV with a maximum output of 9 kilowatts.

Honda FCV Concept
Honda FCV Concept

Smart Hydrogen Station

Honda also announced the application of a Smart Hydrogen Station (SHS), representing a packaged hydrogen station unit that adopts Honda’s original high-differential-pressure electrolyzer. With it Honda states that it will work “toward the forthcoming hydrogen society under three key concepts – “generate,” “use” and “get connected” – and strive for the early realization of a CO2-free society.”

Honda’s fuel cell electric vehicle involvement dates to the late 1980s. In 2008, the Honda FCX Clarity made its debut, a prototype fuel cell vehicle available that was available for lease by select customers in Japan and in Southern California. However, the FCX Clarity is no longer available to new customers as Honda readies the FCV for production.

Honda FCV Concept
2016 FCV Concept

Honda FCV Concept

Indeed, Honda considers the FCV Concept the direct successor to the FCX Clarity, what will deliver improved performance at a greater cost savings. Honda says the latest fuel cell stack for the concept is one-third smaller than the previous unit with greater output and density. Overall performance is up by 60 percent.

Honda says that the FCV represents the world’s first FCEV with its complete powertrain, including the fuel cell stack, located underneath the hood of the vehicle. Thus, passenger space is not compromised as it is in other models. The FCV Concept seats five adults and Honda says the layout will enable it to be made into multiple body styles once fuel cell adoption becomes more widespread.

Honda FCV Concept

Fueling times of three minutes are possible with the Honda FCV Concept.

Hydrogen Storage Tank

Honda has equipped the FCV Concept with a 70 MP high-pressure hydrogen storage tank that provides a cruising range of more than 700 kilometers (approximately 435 miles). Tank refill time is approximately three minutes, roughly matching the time it takes to refuel today’s gasoline-powered models.

What’s more, Honda says the FCEV features an external power feeding function, something originally tested and improved upon by the FCX Clarity. When combined with an external power feeding device, the vehicle can act as a compact mobile power plant to generate and distribute electricity to the community following a natural disaster.

Along with Toyota and Hyundai, Honda is making a case for fuel cell electric vehicles. A severely limited hydrogen filling station network will temper the roll out stateside, but commitment by the automotive and fuel industries as well as from policy makers could make FCEV adoption easier.

Honda FCV Concept

The concept’s fuel cell stacker is smaller, but more powerful than before.

Honda FCV Concept

This Honda Power Exporter can be useful in a natural disaster.

More Hydrogen News

Toyota Mirai: Fuel Cell Future Realized

UC Davis Study Shows Confidence in Hydrogen

Arrived: 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell

California Hydrogen Refueling Network Receives Backing From Toyota

Honda FCV Concept photos copyright the manufacturer.

Filed Under: Auto Shows Tagged With: ELECTRIC VEHICLE, FCEV, FCV, HONDA FCV CONCEPT, HONDA FCX CLARITY, HONDA POWER EXPORTER CONCEPT, hydrogen

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