The world’s largest automobile manufacturer is working full swing to churn out ultimate green cars by 2015, which will be much more efficient that the battery driven Electric vehicles (EVs). Known as the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles or the FCEVs, these cars will run on the power of natural gases such as Nitrogen and Oxygen drawn from the air. Toyota and other Japanese auto giants such as Honda and Nissan are working hard on the Fuel Cell technology, in order to make the most effective eco-friendly cars that would change the future of commutation system. The chief obstacle in the path of this immensely potential car is its very expensive developmental cost that would make it carry an extravagant price tag.

However, this problem is also being resolved, as per one of Toyota’s top engineers, who said that the cost of a fully manufactured Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle has reduced around 20 times than what it used to be when the company first started developing the car’s prototypes. This good news clearly indicates that the prospect of successful FCEVs has heightened by many folds.

Moreover, the group vice president of strategic planning of Toyota Motor U.S.A., Chris Hostetter revealed that the prototype FCEVs cost around $1 million when they were being developed many years back. But the development costs for the vehicles meant for sale in the domestic market in the year 2015 would be around $50,000. With this vast reduction in the cost factor, the Fuel Cell vehicles are likely to come with a price tag of under $100,000, Hostetter added at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference.

Hostetter revealed that Toyota has currently produced 100 fuel cell beta-test prototypes that are based on the platform of Highlander crossover and has a range of running 440 miles. But the 2015 production version would be featuring the Prius design language, which is similar to the FCV-R hatchback concept that was introduced at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.

However, another hindrance in the path of Toyota is the lack of proper hydrogen refueling network that the company is working to resolve along with several other U.S and Japanese auto giants. Toyota is working in partnership with German auto major BMW to develop the FCEVs, and the cars might be available to only Japanese markets and the U.S markets of California and New York initially.
California had a 60 hydrogen station plan but the state has only eight operational stations at present. On the other hand, on East Coastal region New York is the only place with a reasonable hydrogen infrastructure Hostetter said.

Hostetter also forecasts that the sales rates of the fuel cell cars should be similar to the original Prius, which recorded an 11,000 unit’s sale when it went on sale in the U.S back in 2000. The California and the New York markets together accounts for about 20% of the total U.S. market, which means Toyota, could be selling around 2,000 FCEVs in 2015.

Tagged: Toyota Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles