The Toyota FCHV is a current hybrid

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

fuel cell vehicle A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate e ...

development programme of the

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, which was leased to a limited number of drivers in the United States and Japan beginning in 2002. "FCHV" stands for "Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle". A number of prototypes have been produced, up to the latest FCHV-adv ("advanced").

History

There are currently five generations of the FCHV, beginning with preliminary prototypes FCHV-1 (1997) and FCHV-2 (1999). The FCHV-3 was presented at the "International Symposium on Fuel-Cell Vehicles" in March 2001 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, and the FCHV-4 was the first production version, although Toyota did not plan a full-scale commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicle launch until around 2015. As of 2008 the FCHV-adv was available for lease in Japan. The use of the vehicles by government ministries and companies is intended to provide detailed development feedback on the FCHV performance under varied driving conditions. In 2007 a FCHV was driven between

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and

on a single tank of hydrogen, proving that a hydrogen vehicle could compete with conventional vehicles for range. In August 2009, Toyota USA announced an estimated FCHV-adv range of from a tank of hydrogen, based on a test trip in "real-world" conditions between Torrance and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

FCHV system

The FCHV designs are based on the first generation Highlander SUV, although a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

version is also in development. The powertrain consists of a 90 kW fuel cell supplied from onboard compressed hydrogen tanks, and a nickel–metal hydride battery in parallel. Battery and fuel cell can provide power to the 90 kW driving

motors An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

either singly or together. The mechanism is very similar to the

Hybrid Synergy Drive Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), also known as Toyota Hybrid System II, is the brand name of Toyota Motor Corporation for the hybrid car drive train technology used in vehicles with the Toyota and Lexus marques. First introduced on the Toyota Prius, ...

in the Toyota

Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, th ...

and

Toyota Auris The is a compact car derived from the Corolla, manufactured and sold by Toyota. Introduced in 2006, the first generation three/five-door hatchback shared the platform with the E150 series Corolla, while the second generation five-door hatchba ...

HSD but with the fuel cell replacing the

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

, thus minimising

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

at point of use. At low speeds the FCHV can run on battery alone, with a range of about . For high performance, such as when accelerating from rest, the fuel cell and battery supply power in tandem. The battery can also charge by

regenerative braking Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...

, improving overall efficiency.

Hydrogen storage

The 700 Bar (10000 PSI) hydrogen tanks holds 156 liters - enough fuel for a range of on the Japanese 10-15 test cycle and on the Japanese JC08 test cycle. Test vehicles on the Japanese 10-15 test cycle average with a top speed of . Vehicles on the JC08 test cycle average and a top speed of .

Models

FCHV-1

FCHV-2

FCHV-3

FCHV-4

FCHV-adv

FCHV-BUS

The Toyota FCHV-BUS is a

fuel cell bus A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels, sometimes augmented in a hybrid fashion with batteries or a supercapacitor. The only emission from the bus is water. Several cities aro ...

based on the Hino Blue Ribbon City(KL-HU2PMEE) low-floor bus. *90 kW PEFC Fuel cell stack: twice *Motor: AC synchronous 80 kW twice *Hydrogen tank: Compressed hydrogen gas 35 MPa / 150 liter, five (version 2002) or seven (version 2005) *Passenger capacity: 63 (included 22 seats) FCHV-BUS demonstrated at Toei Bus (August 2003 - December 2004) and

Expo 2005 Expo 2005 was a World Expo held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka (World Expo), Expo '75 Okinawa (Specialised Expo) ...

. After Expo 2005, some were lent to bus fleet operators, and also demonstrated in fuel cell events. * Chita Noriai (March 2006 - December 2009) as route bus in Chubu International Airport *

Chubu International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ...

(since July 2006) as ramp bus * Meitetsu Bus (since October 2010) as route bus in Toyota City, Aichi *Airport Transport Service (since December 2010) as airport shuttle bus for

Tokyo International Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

FC Bus

The FC Bus uses the Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS) in a bus, based on experience with Hino on the Hino Blue Ribbon bus. In 2015, the bus was lent to Meitetsu Bus for free, as a demonstration that fuel cell buses were practical. It was used on the

Toyota City , formerly known as Koromo, is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 426,162 and a population density of 464 people per km2. The total area was . It is located about 35 minutes from Nagoya by way of the Meite ...

Community Bus ''Oiden Bus Toyota East Circle Line'' (Section： Toyotashi Station ↔ Mikawa-Toyota Station). In September on 2015, the bus started running ''Toyota Oiden Bus Fujioka・Toyota Line'' (Section： Toyotashi Station ↔ Fujioka Elementary School). Toyota planned to start sales in 2017 and to have 100 units in Tokyo in time for the 2020 Olympics. The bus was delivered to Toei Bus on lease contract.

SORA

The Toyota SORA bus will be made from 2018. The name "SORA" stands for Sky, Ocean, River, Air, which is the water cycle. It includes a Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS) and a collision warning system. It has a capacity of up to 79 people. The seats can also stow automatically when not in use. It also uses LED lights to communicate with other buses and travel in convoys to conserve energy. They can also be used as an emergency power source, having up to .

Project Portal trucks

Toyota started testing two Mirai fuel cells (114 kW each) in a converted Kenworth T680 electric Class 8

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-traile ...

in the Port of Los Angeles in April 2017 as part of 'Project Portal', doing

drayage Drayage is the transport of goods over a short distance in the shipping and logistics industries. Drayage is often part of a longer overall move, such as from a ship to a warehouse. Some research defines it specifically as "a truck pickup from ...

for Toyota. The truck has two motors for a combined and of torque, a 200 kW 12 kWh battery, and a fixed

gear ratio A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the Pitch circle diameter (gears), pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, pr ...

of 15.5:1. It has a range of determined by the size of the hydrogen tanks. It accelerates (empty) from in 7 seconds. The motors are mainly powered by the fuel cells rather than from the small battery. Toyota added a

terminal tractor A terminal tractor, known in the United States as a shunt truck, spotter truck, spotting tractor, yard truck, yard shifter, yard dog, yard goat, yard horse, yard jockey, hostler, or mule, is a kind of semi-tractor intended to move semi-trailers ...

to the project in 2019. The project was updated with a truck in 2020.

Cultural impact

Prophets of Science Fiction

The FCHV is featured in the Jules Verne episode of the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...

program Prophets of Science Fiction. Some measure of credit is given to Jules Verne in the episode, for helping to inspire the idea.

References

External links

Putting the Green in Our Machine. Toyota USA.Fuel Cell Vehicle. Toyota Global
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyota Fchv FCHV Hydrogen cars Fuel cell vehicles Fuel cell buses