Toyota launches new fuel cell bus in Tokyo

Automaker bring a new fuel cell bus to Tokyo

Toyota’s first fuel cell bus has come to Japan. The automaker has delivered this new vehicle to the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan government. The agency will begin regularly operating the new bus beginning in March. Toyota has plans to deliver its second fuel cell bus later that month as well. Tokyo officials believe that more than 100 fuel cell buses will be operating in the city by 2020, when the city will play host to the 2020 Olympic Games.

New bus uses technology originally meant for the Toyota Mirai

The fuel cell bus is equipped with 10 high-pressure fuel tanks, which hold approximately 132 gallons worth of hydrogen. The vehicle’s fuel cell system will consume this hydrogen in order to generate electrical power. The byproduct of this process is oxygen and water vapor, making the fuel cell bus environmentally friendly. The fuel cell system that will be used by the bus was originally developed for the Mirai, another one of Toyota’s clean vehicles. The Mirai has been equipped with a different fuel cell system, however.

Fuel cell bus can be used as a form of backup power

While the fuel cell bus will function primarily as a form of transportation, Toyota notes that it can also be used as a power source as well. Hydrogen fuel cells are capable of generating large quantities of electricity in an efficient manner. Their acclaimed reliability means that fuel cells can be used to generate power in the event of a natural disaster. Toyota has demonstrated how fuel cells can be used as emergency backup energy systems in the past, highlighting the fact that fuel cells can be used for much more than just transportation.

Toyota to aid Tokyo with its plans to embrace clean transportation

Like large cities throughout the world, Tokyo is working to make public transportation more environmentally friendly. To accomplish this, the Tokyo government is turning to companies like Toyota who are developing new vehicles that can aid in this endeavor. Toyota’s new fuel cell bus is simply the first step in Tokyo’s plan to promote hydrogen as a prominent form of renewable energy. The city intends to show what fuel cells are capable of during the 2020 Olympic Games.