Toyota plans fuel cell vehicles by 2015
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DETROIT -- Toyota plans to launch hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2015.
"We think we can have small volumes of affordable fuel cell vehicles in certain markets that have the fuel stations," said Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive vice president of product planning and advanced technology at Toyota Motor Corp.
Uchiyamada said that with fuel stations in place, fuel cell electric vehicles are preferable to plug-in electric vehicles because the technology is less costly and because fuel cell vehicles have greater range. Uchiyamada said that with enough hydrogen fueling stations, fuel-cell vehicles would offer greater value to consumers than plug-in electrics.
He did not say what type of fuel cell vehicles Toyota would sell, but the company already has a fleet of Highlander fuel cell vehicles being tested in the United States. The crossover gets a range of about 400 miles, said Toyota spokesman John Hanson.
Hanson said Toyota is talking with a number of large cities around the world about building the infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles. He said any fuel cell that Toyota brings to market must be affordable and get great range. The company also is studying what types of volumes it needs to sell, Hanson said.
"Between the governments, energy companies and us, we can begin a real push for infrastructure," he said. "We're saying if you want to be a mixed-mobility mecca, you've got to have the infrastructure."
