Toyota Motor Corp has developed an energy efficient car that runs on advanced hydrogen fuel cells. The car, dubbed the FCHV adv, can run up to 516 miles on one tank of hydrogen and can resist temperatures as low as 30 degrees Celsius.
Toyota announced on Friday that the zero-emission vehicle will be leased to government officials and other possible users in Japan later this year.
With a maximum speed of 155 km per hour, the new version of the fuel-cell vehicle emits only water and runs entirely on hydrogen. Improvements to the brakes and other areas have been made as well. The fuel-cell efficiency has been improved by 25 percent.
Fuel-cell cars have gained approval by millions of motorists in the past few years due to the clean, cheaper fuel and the lack of dirty exhaust emissions. The downside to fuel-cell cars is the high cost of production and the lack of appropriate fuel stations.
Honda has also been creating fuel-cell vehicles since 2002. Toyota and Honda have since gone neck to neck in the market to produce fuel-cell cars for mass commercialism. Honda's FCX Clarity was tested by Japan's fuel efficiency test method and the results showed it could run 620 km on a single tank. The car uses a lithium-ion battery and can go up to 160 km per hour.
The Toyota FCHV adv uses a nickel metal hydride battery and will be showcased at the Group of Eight rich nations' summit in Toyako, northern Japan next month.
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This post was written by Christine Pinella on June 6, 2008