Toyota to Launch Hydrogen-fueled Sedan Next Year

Even though Toyota have been seeing a slower annual sales growth of its hybrids lately, they continue to be the dominant force in the hybrid vehicle market, and they intend to build on it and extend their supremacy with new products that they will offer to environmentally-conscious consumers. The fact they have been undisputed leaders in green vehicles for a long time gives them the freedom and confidence to take a gamble and experiment with new technologies, trying to develop alternative fuel vehicles that are even cleaner and more efficient than hybrids and electric cars. That's why the automaker has started working on hydrogen fuel cell technology, which is thought to have great potential, but is deemed too expensive and not commercially viable at the moment.

Toyota has been developing the Yaris hybrid and a hydrogen-powered vehicle for a while, and recently unveiled the FCV Concept, which is set to go into production in 2015. It's a sedan that is capable of traveling more than 300 miles before it needs to be refueled, it can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 10 seconds, and doesn't emit any harmful gases. But, in addition to launching a hydrogen fuel-cell car, Toyota has been trying to come up with a solution to one of the biggest problems that these vehicles are expected to face in the future. It's the lack of fueling infrastructure, which is an issue that electric car owners face, as well.

The Japanese car maker has announced that it plans to build an extensive network of fueling stations across the country to support their hydrogen-fueled cars, which it hopes to produce in greater volumes in the following years. Toyota wants to install the first fueling stations in California, a state which has already committed to put hydrogen infrastructure in place, and is set to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in it over the next ten years. At the moment, there are 10 hydrogen fuel pumps in California, where state legislators have enacted tough laws that require car dealers to sell a certain amount of zero-emission vehicles, so that the number of green vehicles on its roads is increased gradually each year. According to Toyota's calculations, a network of 68 fueling stations will be enough to satisfy the needs of owners of hydrogen-powered cars at the beginning.

In order to carry out its plans successfully, Toyota will use car dealerships throughout the country, as well as landfills and dumps. The company has realized that it could be very convenient to install hydrogen pumps at their dealerships, which would mean that most hydrogen-fueled car owners will have a fueling station relatively close to them. Additionally, Toyota sees landfills and dumps as ideal locations for such stations, as they could produce hydrogen from methane which is emitted at landfills and trash dumps, an idea that was suggested by Craig Scott, the U.S. national manager for advanced technologies at Toyota.

If Toyota manages to realize this idea, it will surely make hydrogen-fueled cars more appealing and more viable, and help them become commonplace, which will bring many environmental and economic benefits.