Toyota Releasing First Hydrogen Vehicle in December

After years of research, development, debate and anticipation, Toyota is finally planning to release its first hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle this year in December. Toyota may also start sales for the car around the same time. With production planned for mid-December 2014 it is ahead of the schedule. Capacity will be small at first, only "dozens" of cars will be made per month.  Interior features, along with the vehicle’s name, volume, and full specifications will be released at a later date. Toyota also announced that the FCV will go on sale in the Japan domestic market before April 2015, and then summer 2015 in Europe and the state of California. 

The main problem with hydrogen cars, as it always is with new technologies, is fitting in with the current gasoline-based infrastructure. You won’t see too many hydrogen fueling stations on street corners in 2014, but Toyota has a plan to change that.

In the fall of 2015, Toyota plans to implement a large network of hydrogen refueling stations across California. This is possible due to a $7-million loan with First Element Fuel Inc, which is lead by GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick.

Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota’s North American Region, hopes to have 50 refueling stations operating across California by the end of 2016, which may lead to the eventual US debut of Toyota’s hydrogen-powered production vehicle. 

“The success of fuel cell technology will depend less on the genius of the car, than on the ownership experience,” said Carter. “Stay tuned, because this infrastructure thing is going to happen.”

Pricing should be more or less as expected. Toyota quotes a figure of around 8 million Yen, 

or just under $80,000 at current exchange rates. That puts it among the higher end of electric vehicles on sale today in the US, and sales are likely to be small as a result. However, if Toyota's project goes to plan, it hopes to lower the car's price to 3 to 5 million Yen by 2020, as sales and production capacity allow.

“This is a zero-emission electric-drive, mid-size four-door sedan” said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “It produces sufficient electrical power to spin the electric motor for about 300 miles on a single fill-up which takes three to five minutes.  This is going to be a very special vehicle. And we believe we can bring it in at a very reasonable price for a lot of people.”