Toyota has announced that it will begin sales of fuel cell buses (FC buses) from early 2017, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Japanese carmaker also has plans to introduce over 100 FC buses in Tokyo area before the sporting event, with two FC buses set to begin plying fixed routes in the city by next year.
The FC buses were developed based on the company’s experience with the Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV), which first broke cover in 2014. It essentially uses the Mirai’s powertrain, albeit on a much larger scale.
For instance, there are ten tanks carrying 600 litres of hydrogen, capable of providing more than 200 km of range, according to The Asahi Shimbun. The tanks can be refuelled in about 10 minutes, and the system will have an energy capacity of 235 kWh.
Two on-board fuel cell stacks will power a pair of electric motors, which have a total system output of 226 kW (308 PS)/670 Nm. If not used to help propel the bus, the powertrain can also be used as power source in the event of disasters, such as at evacuation sites.
As a people mover, the FC bus is capable of ferrying 77 people (26 seated, 50 standing, and one driver). It measures 10,525 mm long, 2,490 mm wide, and 3,340 mm tall. The Asahi Shimbun reports that the Toyota FC bus is priced at 100 million yen (RM4,001,199), about four to five times the cost of a conventional diesel-powered bus.
Toyota considers the use of hydrogen to be the energy of the future, and with a targeted expansion of the introduction of the FC buses, it hopes to contribute to the realisation of a hydrogen-based society.
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News about clean vehicles or self-driving always makes me happy…, for some reason. :-)
I guess I am fed up with dirty poisonous air we have been inhaling…
Self driving vehicles r bad for health
600l of hydrogen for 200km journey? Thank you!
If only our Submarines could travel further than that. :((
Hydrogen is renewable energy. And doesn’t pollute. Source is plenty and cheap. Its the way to go.
600 liters of hydrogen? It’s a moving bomb.
this is super cool…! environmentally friendly, noiseless, efficient… but the price gives me a terrible headache…
If U just enjoy the noiseless & environmentally friendly bus without buying it, U will NOT have a terrible headache.
Orang kampung Says “Practical”