Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles are Highway Bound

More than 100 Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHVs) will participate in a nationwide demonstration program with universities, private companies, and government agencies in California and New York over the next three years. The aim is to demonstrate the reliability and performance of fuel cell technologies and vehicles leading up to the Toyota FCHV’s 2015 market introduction, plus spur the expansion of a hydrogen infrastructure.

First introduced in 2002, the Toyota FCHV has evolved over the years to offer better efficiency, durability, and 150 percent better range, driven primarily by improvements in the vehicle’s fuel cell stack and high-pressure hydrogen storage system. Manufacturing and materials cost reductions have also been achieved along the way. Notably, an evaluation by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2009 saw the latest FCHV fuel cell variant averaging the equivalent of 68 mpg with an estimated single-fill hydrogen range of 431 miles.