TOYOTA Motor Corp is set to unveil a fuel-cell concept car that aims to offer 50 per cent more driving range than its current hydrogen-powered sedan.
Japan’s biggest car manufacturer is targeting a 1,000km range for the Fine-Comfort Ride concept saloon under local standards, compared with about 650km for the current Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The concept car, to be introduced at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, will include artificial intelligence and automated driving features.
Toyota is continuing to champion fuel-cell vehicles as the ultimate zero-emission cars, even as the falling cost of lithium-ion batteries has lured a majority of carmakers to plug-in technology in the face of ever more stringent environmental standards worldwide.
China, the world’s largest market, said last month it was working on a timeline to end the sale of internal-combustion vehicles, joining countries including France, India and the United Kingdom.
While Japan has created a Hydrogen Society Roadmap to increase the number of fuel-cell vehicles on its roads to 40,000 by 2020, there are currently just 2,200 or so.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates the government will only achieve 60 per cent of its target.
Other than the Mirai, which Toyota launched in late 2014, only Honda Motor Co has a hydrogen-powered car for sale in the country, the Clarity Fuel Cell.
Toyota’s luxury arm, Lexus, has also committed to bringing a hydrogen-powered model to the market, introducing a concept sedan in 2015.
The Fine Comfort-Ride saloon can accommodate six people and seats can be rearranged so that they all face inwards.
A Toyota spokesman declined to provide additional details of the powertrain or self-driving technology.
Although hydrogen vehicles can be refuelled in about three minutes and have a substantially longer range than electric cars, they suffer from lack of infrastructure.
There are only 91 hydrogen stations nationwide, against the government’s goal of 160 by 2020, according to BNEF.
On the other hand, Japan has about 7,200 public quick chargers, according to an estimate by Nissan Motor Co.
Nissan’s Leaf, for instance, takes about 30 minutes for a single charge that offers a range of about 400km.
To encourage the establishment of more refuelling stations, Toyota is developing hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles, including a delivery truck it will use in a project with convenience store 7-Eleven Japan.
A pair of Toyota fuel-cell buses began operation in Tokyo this year. -- Bloomberg