In a bid to produce more green cars and offer eco-friendly commuting options to the global car consumers, the world’s largest auto maker, Toyota is all ready to come up with eco-friendly cars that are powered by a new technology called the Fuel Cell. The no.1 car manufacturer is expected to unveil its Fuel cell cars in the company’s domestic car market of Japan by the year 2015, following which the company is expected to introduce the car to the global markets round the world.

The Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles or the FCEVs are potentially electric cars that are run by using the natural gases of hydrogen and oxygen present in the air. These natural gases are used to draw power to run the cars’ electric motors. These futuristic EVs (electric vehicles) are far more efficient and superior compared to hybrid cars or the general battery run electric vehicles, and are also completely zero emission vehicles. At present, there are only developmental models of FCEVs available and none are available in the markets. This highly efficient electric vehicle is soon going to hit the world’s markets as the major car makers of Japan are aiming to make the FCEVs available to the car consumers and mark a new future in the green commutation system.

The Vice Chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. Uchiyamada Takeshi said that the company is betting highly on the FCEVs. He said that the fuel cell vehicles don’t emit toxic gases and are also very efficient as the distance they travel are not limited, nor do they consume any time to recharge. These cars will eventually replace the battery electric vehicle counterparts in the future, he added confidently. Toyota is contemplating to sell sedans that run on the fuel cell technology by 2015. Toyota’s domestic rival company Honda Motor also has similar plans to launch a range of FCEVs by 2015.

The FCEVs are expected to be really expensive and Toyota is busy trying various strategies to bring down the FCEV models’ cost. It has joined hands with the German auto major BMW in order to help lower the research and development (R&D) costs. The Toyota & BMW alliance may help to bring the FCEVs with more affordable price tags making them available to more consumers. Another Japanese rival of Toyota, Nissan Motor Co. has announced that it is working together with German Daimler AG and American Ford Motor Co. to launch FCEV models by the year 2017. Thus, we have three Japanese auto giants onboard of FCEV.
The chief obstacle for these auto manufacturers at present, is dealing with the high development costs of the FCEVs. The eventual sales and popularity of the FCEVs will depend on their prices and hence the companies are trying hard to lower the price of the cars. Also hydrogen fuel stations will have to improve along with the technology. However, auto majors in Europe, U.S and Japan are already working on resolving these problems.

Tagged: Toyota Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles