Industryweek 6923 Toyotal Fuel 1

Toyota Names Price for New Fuel Cell Car

June 25, 2014
The cost for the company's first fuel cell sedan will be $70,000. 

TOKYO -- Toyota (IW 1000/8) will start selling its first fuel cell sedan this financial year, with a price tag of around 7 million yen (US$70,000), the company announced Wednesday.

The vehicles will begin rolling out by March in the home market, it said, and during the summer of 2015 it will make the environmentally friendly cars available in the United States and Europe.

"Hydrogen is a particularly promising alternative fuel since it can be produced using a wide variety of primary energy sources, including solar and wind power," Toyota said.

Fuel cell cars are seen as the Holy Grail of green cars as they are powered by a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, which produces nothing more harmful than water.

Toyota's fuel cell sedan can travel about 435 miles without refueling, about three times further than an electric car, and it only takes three minutes refuel, similar to a gasoline engine car, Toyota said.

The company, while not abandoning electric altogether, sees the fuel cell as the next logical step after its big early success with the Prius gas-electric hybrid, which has sold about 3.7 million units since its launch in the late 1990s.

"Hydrogen does not emit CO2, so it could be a key player to realize a low-carbon society. It can be produced with fossil fuel such as natural gas and even with sludge accumulated in the sewage system," said Toyota vice president Mitsuhisa Kato.

"We believe hydrogen could become a very important source of energy in the future."

This is the first time Toyota has given a specific timeframe for its fuel cell cars, which it had previously said would go on the market in 2015.

The announcement came a day after Japan's industry ministry said the government will strongly support the hydrogen and fuel cell sector in a "strategic roadmap".

The ministry said the market related to hydrogen and fuel cell products and infrastructure is expected to expand from about one trillion yen in 2030 to about eight trillion yen within two decades.

While automakers expect eventual government subsidies to make fuel cell vehicles more accessible for general drivers, the price tag unveiled by Toyota on Wednesday is also a nice surprise for potential customers -- it had been widely expected that a fuel cell vehicle would cost around 10 million yen.

But many hurdles still need to be overcome before fuel cell vehicles become a common sight on roads, most notably, the network of hydrogen refueling stations, Toyota said.

The Japanese government has also said it will try to make hydrogen available at a price similar to or less than gasoline fuel, while increasing the number of hydrogen refueling stations to about 100 next year.

The company said it will initially start selling the model only in the regions "where hydrogen refueling infrastructure is being developed."

The price ranges for a fuel cell unit for the U.S. and European markets have not been decided, Toyota said.

-Harumi Ozawa, AFP

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Navigating Disruption: A Leader’s Guide to Strategy Under Uncertainty

Nov. 1, 2023
AI, sustainability, digital--industrials are facing disruptive forces that are redefining what it takes to win. What got your company where it is today won’t get you where you...

How Manufacturers Can Optimize Operations with Weather Intelligence

Nov. 2, 2023
The bad news? Severe weather has emerged as one of the biggest threats to continuity and safety in manufacturing. The good news? The intelligence solutions that build weather ...

The Ultimate Ecommerce Excellence Checklist

Oct. 2, 2023
Scaling ecommerce operations is no easy task when your business is moving fast. Assess your current ecommerce maturity level and set optimization priorities with this practical...

Discrete and Process Manufacturing 2024 Trends and Outlook for North America

Oct. 29, 2023
Manufacturers are reaping the benefits of automation and cloud-based solutions. Discover what is driving today's industry trends and how they can shape your growth priorities ...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!