Toyota has confirmed plans to compete with Honda's upcoming hydrogen fuel-cell
powered FCX Clarity, stating that it will have a hydrogen-driven vehicle of its
own on the market by 2015.
Speaking at the 2012 Centre for Automotive Research, Inside Line reports, Toyota
USA's president and chief executive Jim Lentz confirmed that a hydrogen-powered
consumer vehicle will be part of his company's product line-up by 2015,
alongside hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full-electric options.
"Specifically, we're developing a lineup that includes a hydrogen fuel-cell
sedan in 2015", Lentz reportedly told attendees at the centre's management
briefing seminar. The hydrogen vehicle will come alongside "a wider variety of
hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and a choice of pure electric vehicles."
Hydrogen promises to be the technology most likely to do away with the
combustion engine. Offering the same performance as a traditional vehicle, a
fuel-cell vehicle boasts a range some three times greater than a tank of fuel
while retaining the environmental benefits of an electric vehicle and emitting
only heat and water vapour as its by-products. Fuel-cell vehicles also boast a
significantly faster 'refuelling' time compared to plug-in hybrid and
all-electric vehicles, with Honda claiming the FCX Clarity can be refuelled from
empty in just five minutes.
While Honda's FCX Clarity may be the world's first production
hydrogen fuel-cell car, it's clear that Toyota isn't going to let its
rival corner the market just yet.
Germany, Berlin,
Hungary, Budapest
Joliet, Illinois
Serbia, Belgrade
Macedonia, Skjope
Syracuse, New York
Montgomery, Alabama
Columbia, Missouri
Logan City, Queensland
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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