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Toyota FCV Hydrogen Tanks are Bulletproof

Next year, Toyota is planning to release the first batch of fuel cell vehicles in California, but will the people embrace the new technology like it did with the Prius, or everyone will remember about how the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg zeppelin burned to ashes in 1937.
Toyota FCV Hydrogen Tank 1 photo
Photo: Toyota
Yes, hydrogen is a very flammable substance, but you should’t compare modern day technology with the one from the 1930’s. And why would Toyota be here trying to launch this new type of propulsion if it wasn’t safe.

At the 2014 Automotive News World Congress, Toyota USA senior vice president Bob Carter said that “Toyota would not have continued on this path for this long if it didn’t make good business sense.”

Apart from being an EV, the biggest advantage of fuel cell vehicles is that they can be refueled like gasoline cars. Not to mention the fact that they have a bigger range.

However, when Toyota said that the FCV holds 2 tanks filled with hydrogen at around 70 MPa (690 atm / 10,150 psi), everyone backed up, saying that they wouldn’t drive a vehicle that’s having two bombs onboard.

As you can imagine, a company as big as Toyota would never want to screw around with safety, especially now after the unintended acceleration lawsuits, so those high-pressure hydrogen tanks have surely gone under some extensive tests to prove their durability.

Bob Carter said that the company tested the hydrogen tanks up to the point at which they shot bullets at it.

“They're safe. In testing, we fired small-caliber bullets at the hydrogen tank and they just bounced off it. It took a 50-caliber armor-piercing bullet to penetrate the shell. And, even then, it just left a hole and the hydrogen simply leaked out.”

As safety won’t appear to be a problem, all the automaker has to do now is to further lower the production costs and make sure there will be enough hydrogen refilling stations around.
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