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Hello Mirai – Toyota moves into fuel cell cars
The world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, has launched and begun selling its Mirai (which means ‘future’ in Japanese) fuel cell car. The car (pictured) is already being sold in Japan and will reach the US and Europe in 2015.
Toyota says that the car will have the range of a conventional petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicle and can be fuelled in less than five minutes, with water vapour the only tailpipe emission.
The car will use the Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS), which uses both fuel cell and hybrid technologies. It includes a proprietary Toyota fuel cell stack, which has a maximum power output of 114 kW, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks will store the fuel.
Toyota is also working to supply hydrogen fuelling stations to support the car’s launch. In the US it is to supply 12 stations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Toyota is also part of the HyFive project, under which UK hydrogen company ITM Power will build three refuelling stations in London ready for refuelling in 2015. The aim of the HyFive (Hydrogen for Innovative Vehicles) project is to speed up the introduction hydrogen-powered cars in Europe.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: Fuel cells
Countries: USA - Japan - Europe -
Subjects: Electric vehicles, Hydrogen
