When Toyota delivered the FCHV -- the world's first market-ready fuel cell hybrid vehicle -- to customers in the U.S. and Japan on December 2, 2002, it marked the culmination of a decade of commitment, and the first step toward the hydrogen society of tomorrow.
Special Reports
TOYOTA FCHV -- THE FIRST STEP TOWARD
THE HYDROGEN SOCIETY OF TOMORROW
Accelerating towards a Hydrogen Society
through Fuel Cell Vehicles
Senior Managing Director Hiroyuki Watanabe talks about the purpose of Toyota's recent FCHV (Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle) development, the challenges ahead and Toyota's eco-car approach.
Just Building
Fuel Cell Vehicles
Isn't Enough
Hiroyuki Watanabe
Senior Managing Director
Broadly speaking, fuel cell vehicles have three major advantages: 1) high efficiency, 2) cleanness and 3) energy diversity.
More specifically, "high efficiency" means that fuel cell vehicles achieve three times the energy efficiency of gasoline vehicles in fuel economy mode.
"Cleanness" means fuel cell vehicles do not emit CO2 or NOx, so they may be key to solving environmental problems. At present, 740 million vehicles are driven on our planet. Experts say, however, that the number of vehicles will exceed one billion within 20 years. Assuming such an increased burden on the environment, automobile manufacturers are advancing the development of fuel cell vehicles as a next-generation environment-friendly solution.
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"Energy diversity," the third advantage, means that, because hydrogen used for fuel can be obtained from a variety of energy sources, we will not need to depend on petroleum. This suggests that even a country of few resources like Japan can acquire energy security if we draw up an intelligent scenario.
To build a clean, affluent society using this breakthrough fuel cell technology, we have to study how to produce hydrogen in sustainable, low-cost ways that are friendly to the environment. Also, to popularize fuel cell vehicles, we have to raise the public's awareness of the safety of hydrogen, not to mention building a hydrogen infrastructure.
Hybrid Technology is the Key
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With the appearance of new types of vehicles using fuel cell, hybrid and other alternative technologies, we cannot use conventional methods to compare their burden on the environment, that is, just by fuel consumption during cruising. To evaluate vehicles, therefore, Toyota employs the concept of well-to-wheel efficiency, which shows overall efficiency, from energy source extraction (e.g. oil well) to actual vehicle operation. At Toyota, we use well-to-wheel efficiency figures to indicate performance goals for future fuel cell vehicles. The vehicle (tank-to-wheel) efficiency of a fuel cell vehicle is 38%, which is higher than that of a gasoline vehicle (16%). However, the fuel production (well-to-tank) efficiency of a fuel cell vehicle is as low as 58% (when hydrogen is produced from natural gas). As a result, its well-to-wheel efficiency is 22%, which is lower than that of a gasoline hybrid vehicle. Therefore, the Toyota FCHV employs a secondary battery combined with the fuel cell to raise overall efficiency to 29%.
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However, I am not satisfied with the current performance of fuel cell vehicles, considered to be our "next-generation ace." Taking the future global environment and energy problems into consideration, I think the target well-to-wheel efficiency of fuel cell vehicles should be at least three times higher than that of gasoline vehicles or 1.5 times that of gasoline hybrid vehicles. For this purpose, hybrid technology must be skillfully applied to fuel cell vehicles, and efficient hydrogen production methods must be developed.
I've heard it said that hybrid technology is a bridging technology to eventually arrive at fuel cell vehicles, but that idea is completely mistaken. Hybrid technology is itself a core technology because it stores energy and enables its efficient use. For many years to come, various types of hybrid cars that combine an internal combustion engine and secondary battery or a fuel cell and secondary battery (like the Toyota FCHV) will coexist and compete against each other.
Fuel Cell Vehicles
Require Technological Breakthroughs
Toyota works with other companies within the Toyota Group to develop its own key components of the system including the Toyota FC Stack, which is the core technology for a fuel cell vehicle. This has been a proud tradition ever since Sakichi Toyoda said, "Value our original technologies." However, fuel cell vehicles are manufactured using an emerging, developing technology. In addition to the well-to-wheel efficiency described above, there are several more issues that fuel cell vehicles face, such as low temperature start-up performance, cruising distance and cost. Fuel cell vehicles produce water when the fuel cell generates electric power from oxygen in the air and hydrogen. The issue of "low temperature start-up performance" refers to the problem of water freezing at low temperature because pure water is produced by the fuel cell. As for cruising distance, fuel cell vehicles can run only 300 km using current hydrogen storage technology. Also, the cost is far from being comparable to that of mass-produced vehicles. To solve these problems, we must build a worldwide network of engineers and scientists while observing the distinction between competition and collaboration.
Human Power Makes
Dreams Come True
Hydrogen is an ideal energy source because it has a high energy density for its weight and is friendly to the environment. An infrastructure based on hydrogen as an energy source will transform the structure of our society. Not only will it change our society in material terms, it will also reshape it in terms of our value judgments and evaluation standards. Since automobile engines will change, the materials and manufacturing processes will also change. If we take advantage of the "cleanness" of hydrogen, the way in which power is generated can shift from concentrated mega-power generation to a diversified one for home use. Power stations will acquire "mobility" in that they will be freely movable anywhere without having to distinguish between homes, offices or roads. Then, the appearances of buildings and towns will evolve and new lifestyles will emerge -- the dream keeps extending.
What makes this dream come true is human power. The important things are 1) creative ideas unfettered by conventional thinking and the courage to take action, 2) a value system that respects individuality and diversity and 3) teamwork. Of course, we will have to surmount some high hurdles to fulfill this great dream. Let's keep up the steam and enjoy the challenge.
TOYOTA
FCHV
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