Hydrogen fuel cell car unveiled by Toyota for 2015
November 6, 2013The auto manufacturer has just released information on the concept that will become a vehicle in two years.
Toyota has just unveiled its latest concept that is to become a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that will be available for purchase by consumers in 2015.
Many of the major automakers are looking into this technology, though it had been ignored for a while.
Other auto manufacturers aside from Toyota, including Hyundai and Honda, are bringing the concept of hydrogen fuel powered vehicles back into the spotlight. This, despite the fact that the tech had been losing its popularity among the ideas to be used for pollution free cars, as electric vehicles started to edge into favor.
However, as the limitations of electric become increasingly clear, hydrogen fuel cells are being reconsidered.
Electric had been rapidly gaining popularity among automakers and was starting to catch on among consumers, as well. However the limitations to both manufacture and ownership of electric vehicles have become increasingly clear. Some examples of these challenges are that the cost of the batteries are very high and there are very few public recharging stations where an owner can “fuel up”. In an effort to overcome those issues, Toyota is about to join the other companies that are turning toward a hydrogen fuel cell.
The unveiling of the hydrogen fuel based vehicle concept was made this week at the Tokyo Motor Show. It involved a four seat car called the FCV Concept. It can be refueled in as little as three minutes and can travel at least 500 km from full.
In terms of the appearance of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the design is supposed to bring about thoughts of “a catamaran and evoke flowing water.” This could be considered to be quite an appropriate image, as the only emissions produced by these cars are water vapor.
According to the announcement from Toyota, this hydrogen fuel vehicle concept includes a lightweight cell stack that has two hydrogen tanks under high pressure which are contained within the vehicle body. The world will certainly be looking to this and other companies to watch the direction that this technology will be taking in the near future.