Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell car to arrive in the US next summer

[Shawn Knight]

Toyota is looking to build on the eco-friendly reputation it has earned from the Prius with a new sedan set to arrive in 2015. Instead of following Tesla down the all-electric path, the world’s largest automaker will rely on hydrogen fuel cell technology to power the as-yet-unnamed four-door vehicle.

The Japanese company’s car was first revealed as a concept late last year. The current iteration revealed today looks very similar to that concept with only a few small cosmetic changes (the addition of side mirrors is a plus).

The Japanese company claims the car will feature a range of 435 miles with a refueling time of around three minutes, figures that highlight the benefits of fuel cell technology over all-electric solutions. Other specifications haven’t been finalized, however.

The sedan will debut in Japan next April priced around seven million yen (roughly $70,000) before heading to Europe and the US in the summer of 2015. The pricing puts the vehicle in line with Tesla’s Model S which will no doubt be its biggest competitor in the alternative energy vehicle market.

Pricing aside, Toyota’s biggest challenge will be building out the necessary infrastructure to support refueling. As Tesla has demonstrated, however, building a nationwide refueling network to facilitate a cross-country drive is indeed possible and can be done in a relatively short amount of time.

Whether or not Toyota offers free refueling for life, however, remains to be seen.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57229-toyotas-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-arrive-us-next-summer.html

 

[davislane1]

Toyota executives appear to have skipped the presentation on principles of automotive sales 101.

You cannot successfully sell a vehicle unless it has both technology AND design working for it.

HFC, like electric, is promising, but you will never be able to sell it if the car doesn't look good, too.

 

[VitalyT]

If after three years of driving your car fails to even return its all-green premium, it wasn't worth the money to begin with.

A gas guzzler that look as ugly as this Toyota sells for around 30 grand. Good luck driving it for 10 years, trying to save that last dime from the 40K difference just before the car falls apart.

 

[cliffordcooley]

HFC, like electric, is promising, but you will never be able to sell it if the car doesn't look good, too.

I have learned one thing in my short life and that is people will buy anything if it is different from what others have. It doesn't matter how ugly it is to half the population, the other half would probably consider it. There are a few vehicles I see every time I leave the house and don't understand how it could have sold to begin with.

 

[Guest]

For those not aware, this is also an all-electrical vehicle.

 

[Rippleman]

Rednecks always hate change...

 

[lipe123]

Toyota executives appear to have skipped the presentation on principles of automotive sales 101.

You cannot successfully sell a vehicle unless it has both technology AND design working for it.

HFC, like electric, is promising, but you will never be able to sell it if the car doesn't look good, too.

It's still a concept, go and google how many concept designs ever made it to production as is.

Also PT cruiser! Look how many of those disgusting things sold!

 

[cliffordcooley]

Rednecks always hate change...

If hating inflated prices and faulty merchandise makes me a red neck, then red neck I am! Keep on cheering for change, and shelling out more from your wallet at the same time. I will vote for keeping production cost down. Only a small percentage of changes being made actually improve products. And even then they may introduce more problems than they are worth.

I would rather buy into one design that works and works well, than have hundreds of designs and not know if they are worth a ****.

 

[captaincranky]

Fueling your car at a standard gas station is risky business enough . I simply can't wait to take my life into my own hands f***ing around with high pressure hydrogen gas. (EG. bullets flying, people slamming into the pumps, people pulling away with the hose still in the tank. I have to confess though, I really enjoy the footage from the security cameras on the 11:00 news).

The whole process brings to mind to plight of the male black widow spider, on his honeymoon night..

Yeah, I know, I'm an old fart with old ideas. Blah, blah, blah.

 

[Rippleman]

If hating inflated prices and faulty merchandise makes me a red neck, then red neck I am! Keep on cheering for change, and shelling out more from your wallet at the same time. I will vote for keeping production cost down. Only a small percentage of changes being made actually improve products. And even then they may introduce more problems than they are worth.

I would rather buy into one design that works and works well, than have hundreds of designs and not know if they are worth a ****.

someone said the same thing when they saw the first ford

 

[davislane1]

It's still a concept, go and google how many concept designs ever made it to production as is.

No need: I've been following the car industry since I was 5 years old. I know how concepts are generally translated into final products and how each of the major manufacturers usually go about the process. This car, when it rolls out of factories, is not going to look too different from what you've seen here. The only major difference will be the elimination of the more flashy elements of the concept. Instead of being ugly and futuristic, it will be ugly and boring.

Also PT cruiser! Look how many of those disgusting things sold!

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. I won't dispute that. But the PT Cruiser was safe enough from a design standpoint to pass as a love/hate vehicle because its core language was focused on oblong shapes. It was composed enough to appeal to people in spite of the fact that the designer got his inspiration from an egg. This, on the other hand, tries to combine flowing lines with exaggerated geometric shapes. Consequently, it doesn't feel composed. Cars that aren't composed don't generally do well (see the Pontiac Aztek).

Rednecks always hate change...

Never been around any rednecks, have you?

 

[cliffordcooley]

someone said the same thing when they saw the first ford

That's funny seeing as lack of quality in production is a newer development from the last half century.

 

[Guest]

+1 captaincranky, there is no way in hell the average (American) ***** could avoid killing themselves or others at Hydrogen refuelling stations. They would need to deposit all guns, children, lighters, crack pipes and children 100 metres prior.

 

[dividebyzero]

Fueling your car at a standard gas station is risky business enough . I simply can't wait to take my life into my own hands f***ing around with high pressure hydrogen gas.

Well, Japanese (auto) design is often slated for outright copying of German design elements...hopefully they aren't too slavish when it comes to hydrogen cell based transport.

(EG. bullets flying, people slamming into the pumps, people pulling away with the hose still in the tank. I have to confess though, I really enjoy the footage from the security cameras on the 11:00 news).

So, do the people dumb enough to try to siphon the tank get classified as a felon or a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) ?

 

[Rippleman]

Never been around any rednecks, have you?

I am in the center of redneck country. Alberta.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I am in the center of redneck country. Alberta.

Ahh, so you hate change to. lol

 

[captaincranky]

Well, Japanese (auto) design is often slated for outright copying of German design elements...hopefully they aren't too slavish when it comes to hydrogen cell based transport.

Ah yes, the big bag burst at Lakehurst.....I'm still holding out until I get an operating system I can simply talk to, or maybe even reason with, and also waiting until they stop wasting perfectly good hydrogen by trying to burn it.......

Now that's more like it...!(y)

 

[Darkshadoe]

Im predicting the first accident will look like this:

 

[BMfan]

The 2006 Honda fcx looks a lot better than this but at least they are moving away from petrol hybrid and
plug in electric.

 

[tipstir]

Up in CT I was for 13 years I done a lot of IT work there, one of the plants I was at with called UTC Fuel Cells then in 2001 it was called UTC Power. Today that Division has been taken over by ClearEdge Power in 2013. Prior UTC Power has been making Fuel Cells for NASA since the 1966. So the tech has been around for many years. This company had a working Fuel Cell in front of their building it was huge. The tech as always been around but again not for the public.

They have been testing FCV for many years with Hyundai SUV and certain buses. Again Fuel Cell is where this country is headed. Gas Power Cars will be a thing of the past. Powering the FCV stations are only few so the push for them should be greater now since they're now being pushed by 2015. The prior goal was more like 2030.

Honda FCV been out but Toyota model eye catching body concept going to have to be revamp for them to sell well. FCV will be it. NGV (natural gas vehicles) these two have been around but only for local and state and I am sure fed governments but then again not for us.

OPEC can't be the puppet masters to us anymore!

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

That thing is hideous! But +1 for someone actually trying to move forward with hydrogen fueled vehicles. Battery power just isn't going to cut it and wont for a long, long time. Yes we make little improvements here and there, and yes some research is looking very promising.... but they will never store enough energy potential in the same amount of space and weight as you can with petroleum, disel, natural gas, or hydrogen for that matter.

Hydrogen really is the best option someone just has to make the procurement and safe distribution of it financially viable. Once that is done hydrogen powered vehicles will take over fast as long as they keep the cost down. There is no reason for a car like this to be $70,000. Yes R&D costs money but in the end, there are less components than a Prius and this car should cost around $30K.

 

[cliffordcooley]

That thing is hideous! But +1 for someone actually trying to move forward with hydrogen fueled vehicles.

I agree! I don't understand why we feel the need to change the whole car, when all that really needs changing is the undercarriage.

 

[Guest]

I actually like the design. Yes it's a bit edgy and different, but not everything has to look similar. The *** isn't exactly my taste but I think it looks good from the front/side.

Plus; a premium is expected for new technology. I don't think you buy this to save money, you buy this because of the environment. Too bad it's out of my price range


Ready for the guest hate.

 

[captaincranky]

I actually like the design. Yes it's a bit edgy and different, but not everything has to look similar. The *** isn't exactly my taste but I think it looks good from the front/side.

Plus; a premium is expected for new technology. I don't think you buy this to save money, you buy this because of the environment. Too bad it's out of my price range


Ready for the guest hate.

Happy motoring!

 

[emmzo]

That thing is hideous! But +1 for someone actually trying to move forward with hydrogen fueled vehicles.

I agree! I don't understand why we feel the need to change the whole car, when all that really needs changing is the undercarriage.

Because is from teh future... but seriously, I wish someone will build an electric motor kit that you would be able to swap the regular engine on your own car without throwing money on these pretentious design cars. I bet the whole thing will be under 10k.