Photo: Toyota
For one reason or another, the automotive industry decided the best way to pursue a green future is to go for battery electric power. Despite the obvious downsides of this approach, that's the reality of our day, and there's a big chance it'll be the reality of our future.
And that's happening despite the shy efforts made by some to come up with alternative solutions that don't require doing as much harm to the environment in order to do good.
In the view of some people, one cleaner way than battery power to cut those pesky CO2 emissions is to go for hydrogen fuel cells. Yet of the large number of carmakers in existence today, few seem to agree with that.
Japanese company Toyota is one of those few. For about a decade now the carmaker has had in its portfolio something called the Mirai, a mid-size car that uses a hydrogen fuel cell system to go about its business.
The model is only mildly successful, not in small part on account of the fact Toyota doesn't really go out of its way to promote it, or make it a global phenomenon. It's there, it works, but nobody really cares about it.
That's probably what will happen with the latest gimmick in the realm of truly clean electric power, the hydrogen fuel cell Hilux pickup truck. It's a contraption that was revealed this week over in the UK with no apparent reason other than to prove that it can be done.
The pickup is a prototype and, you guessed it, it uses "core elements from the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric sedan."
More to the point, we get three high-pressure tanks are there to store enough hydrogen to keep the Hilux going for as much as 600 km (373 miles), a battery mounted in the rear load deck to store the electricity produced by the fuel cell, and of course the fuel cell itself.
Toyota does say the prototype will form the basis for a small fleet of test vehicles to be produced by the end of the year. In all, a total of ten will hit the roads to "undergo rigorous testing to ensure safety, dynamic performance, functionality and durability meet the high standards required of a production model."
That kind of makes people believe Toyota really plans to launch the hydrogen Hilux into production, and that hydrogen power will make it into a more mainstream model of a large carmaker.
It's unclear if that's so, but even if it does make it into civilian hands, it's unlikely it'll be even remotely close to enough to overthrow the millions of battery EVs on the roads already. And it will not change the other carmakers' minds either, not after they've invested billions to go down a certain path.
In the view of some people, one cleaner way than battery power to cut those pesky CO2 emissions is to go for hydrogen fuel cells. Yet of the large number of carmakers in existence today, few seem to agree with that.
Japanese company Toyota is one of those few. For about a decade now the carmaker has had in its portfolio something called the Mirai, a mid-size car that uses a hydrogen fuel cell system to go about its business.
The model is only mildly successful, not in small part on account of the fact Toyota doesn't really go out of its way to promote it, or make it a global phenomenon. It's there, it works, but nobody really cares about it.
That's probably what will happen with the latest gimmick in the realm of truly clean electric power, the hydrogen fuel cell Hilux pickup truck. It's a contraption that was revealed this week over in the UK with no apparent reason other than to prove that it can be done.
The pickup is a prototype and, you guessed it, it uses "core elements from the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric sedan."
More to the point, we get three high-pressure tanks are there to store enough hydrogen to keep the Hilux going for as much as 600 km (373 miles), a battery mounted in the rear load deck to store the electricity produced by the fuel cell, and of course the fuel cell itself.
Toyota does say the prototype will form the basis for a small fleet of test vehicles to be produced by the end of the year. In all, a total of ten will hit the roads to "undergo rigorous testing to ensure safety, dynamic performance, functionality and durability meet the high standards required of a production model."
That kind of makes people believe Toyota really plans to launch the hydrogen Hilux into production, and that hydrogen power will make it into a more mainstream model of a large carmaker.
It's unclear if that's so, but even if it does make it into civilian hands, it's unlikely it'll be even remotely close to enough to overthrow the millions of battery EVs on the roads already. And it will not change the other carmakers' minds either, not after they've invested billions to go down a certain path.
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