Toyota: mass-market FCVs by 2015

At a news conference in Japan last week, Toyota president Akio Toyoda outlined two phases of the company's global drivetrain diversification plans, which centre on opening a mass EV production facility in the US by 2012, with an FCV facility to follow three years later.

The EV lineup will be for urban short-range intra-city commuting, the FCVs for longer distances such as intercity trips.

Based on benchmarks of powertrain mass required to move each kind of vehicle a practical cruising range of 480km, the company's analyses suggest the optimal cutover point -- the moment at which an FCV becomes viable over an EV -- sits around the 160km mark.

And they're going about it in the way that made Toyota the world's preeminent car company, too: through a conscious effort to get the technology consumer-friendly and priced for mass markets as soon as it can.

During presentations at a recent zero-emissions vehicle technology symposium in California, US-based Toyota engineer Tatsuaki Yokoyama said the company is looking to cut the cost of FCVs to a tenth of current levels by 2015, and to a tenth of that again through economies of scale with the ramping up of mass production.

To that end, Yokoyama told delegates, the company is taking a threefold approach to cutting costs as quickly as possible. Firstly, it's investing heavily in remodelling its FCV powertrain design, reducing its size, weight and complexity and minimising its requirement for costly catalytic platinum.

Toyota is working on cutting costs up its supply chain, too, which likely means it's putting the pressure on FCV material suppliers to drive prices down with the promise of volume.

Finally Toyota is doing what the company has become most renowned for over the years -- getting in place the mass production technology and quality control systems for essential base components such as the FC stack and hydrogen tanks. For the latter, it's investing particularly heavily in low cost carbonfibre reinforced plastics.

Of the major barriers to mass market viability -- vulnerability to cold, range, durability and cost -- Toyota claims "significant improvements" in dismantling two of the major barriers to mass market viability -- vulnerability to cold and cruising range with its FCHV-adv prototype.

Using Japan's standard 10-15 cycle measurement methods, the company's calculations put the FCV's total well-to-wheel efficiency at 40 per cent when fuelled by natural gas-sourced hydrogen and a 70MPa tank pressure. A comparable EV charged with gas-generated electricity achieves 33 per cent; a petro-electric hybrid 34 per cent and a conventional petrol fuelled internal combustion engine 19 per cent.

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