International van of the year report 2023 George Barrow
The prototype Hilux has a range of 600km (373 miles). Toyota expects to build 10 of the pick-ups by the end of the year
Toyota’s hydrogen roll out in Europe and the UK, where Toyota expects to be carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years ahead of its global aim. “Hydrogen is really a key enabler to reach these carbon neutral goals. It’s not just the case for Toyota, it’s the case for all of Europe. Hydrogen is going to be one of the major building blocks of the repower EU plan, but in order to make hydrogen succeed we need a robust infrastructure to support distribution, the storage and the accessibility of hydrogen,” he explains. Toyota Hydrogen Factory’s ambitions don’t just lie in automotive, however, as it sees the technology being applicable in all manner of industries, from passenger cars, trucks and buses to marine and power generation. Its fuel cell has already been used in Energy Observer, a pioneering zero- emission, self-suffi cient boat with a 1MWh fuel cell and storage for up to 63kg of hydrogen. “The Energy Observer pioneered the fuel cell technology in the marine environment. It built and developed the
@whatvan
marine range extender, housing the Toyota fuel cell and it is now being used by customers like the Hynova boat and the Fountaine-Pajot company. Again, in partnership we have developed a hydrogen power generator. Apart from being zero-emission, the generator is also silent and odourless,” Paquet says. Toyota has already put a fuel cell heavy truck into operation to decarbonise its logistics operations in Europe. Working with Dutch manufacturer VDL Groep, the truck will allow Toyota and its logistic partners to test its operation in the real world across Europe on major routes between Antwerp, Lille, Cologne, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Like the Hillux prototype, it’s another example of how Toyota is pursuing fuel cell development to solve current transport problems. While Paquet would not comment on the future of its fuel cell LCVs and whether such technology would ultimately be shared with Stellantis – which produces its vans – he did indicate that Toyota sees it an appropriate segment for hydrogen.
“The LCV market is very suitable for fuel cells. Because the way light commercial vehicles are operated is they often go from one location to another and they follow certain routes. In that sense, for the infrastructure it is a much easier combination. Also, in some areas of LCV, 24-hour operation is very important, charging means downtime. So, there’s a number of
Combustion versus fuel cell
Much of Toyota’s recently publicised developments have been around hydrogen fuel cells, but hydrogen combustion engines will play a significant role in decarbonising the commercial vehicle segment at a lower price point.
“We see both technologies evolving very fast and both have benefits and also weak points,” explains Mitsumasa Yamagata.
“We have to consider the various KPIs when it comes to defining which technology is more suited for which [vehicle]. One big point to consider is the costs. The cost for the consumer, what does he or she pay for the vehicle itself and what does he or she pay for the fuel. We see that both technologies, the hydrogen combustion and also the fuel cell technology, they have to get lower in price and then we also have to consider the fuel price of the hydrogen itself. Then there is the matter of efficiency, which is more efficient in which use case? We see for example, bigger trucks seem to be more efficient than smaller cars. So we have to consider several points to be able to decide which technology is better suited for which use case so that the customer has the best efficient balance when it comes to costs.”
arguments why some LCV users would be helped with a fuel cell vehicle. That is a market we need to consider,” he says.
It will surely only be a matter of time before we see Toyota publicly installing its fuel cells in vans for testing and only time will tell if fuel cell vans will trump battery electric vehicles as we currently know them.
October 2023 WhatVan?
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
