Our journey of discovery with hydrogen vehicles started with the Mercedes-Benz’ fuel cell-powered NECAR II (New Electric Car II) in Berlin back in the mid-1990s. Since then, we have driven an array of hydrogen fueled vehicles from the world’s automakers on test tracks and on the highway. Along the way we have analyzed their capabilities and the strides being made in the hydrogen vehicle field over time, always impressed with constant improvement in their technology, cost, durability, component downsizing, and packaging.
What we’ve found in recent years is that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles drive like their more conventional counterparts, exhibiting satisfying levels of power and an overall positive driving experience. Their cabins are quiet, devoid of earlier developmental issues like gear whine or compressor noise. There is no sound or vibration from internal combustion because power is generated electrochemically without combustion. This electricity powers one or more electric motors that drive the vehicle, just like a battery EV. No greenhouse gases are produced and no emissions other than water vapor.
While there have been many important milestones over the years from the automakers pursuing hydrogen power, perhaps none was as notable as our experience driving GM’s Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell in 2007. At the time we knew the crossover we were piloting was one of the most advanced vehicles on the planet, Yet we set out on our drive chatting away with our GM guide almost oblivious to the high technology at work as we motored along, as if this was an everyday journey. That was a telling moment.
It may be that this crossover vehicle was fueled with hydrogen, created its power through an electrochemical process in lieu of combustion, and used the same kind of technology that created electricity and water onboard the Space Shuttle of the era. No matter. Driving it felt so normal . We were completely at ease during the drive with little thought of the processes at work behind the scenes. And that’s just what GM – and in fact, the entire automotive industry – was after. The deed was done.
It wasn’t always so, though developers of fuel cell vehicles had come ever-closer over the years. The ultimate goal was to create hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that disguised all the advanced technology at work. From the driver’s seat, some fuel cell vehicles leading up to our Equinox Fuel Cell drive were more seamless than others, like Toyota’s FCHV and Honda’s FCX. In many cases, though, developmental fuel cell vehicles functioned quite well but were still a degree of separation from production vehicles in certain areas.
Among the many challenges of the day was making the electrically powered drive-by-wire systems required in fuel cell vehicles act and feel like familiar mechanical systems of the day. At times, accelerator and brake pedal input routed through central control units felt a bit too much like on-off switches in developmental fuel cell vehicles. While otherwise eerily silent, high-pitched electric motor whine and sometimes fuel cell compressor noise were present. These challenges were being aggressively addressed as fuel cell vehicle development marched ahead, and they appeared fully resolved in the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell crossover we were driving.
Soon after our time behind the wheel of the Equinox, drivers in suburban Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C. also had the ability to experience these vehicles through the automaker’s “Project Driveway.” This program placed more than 100 Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles in the hands of private motorists ranging from regular families to celebrities. Drivers were provided free use of an Equinox Fuel Cell and the hydrogen fuel needed to run it for an average period of about three months. In return, participants provided GM feedback about the vehicles’ performance and their views about the experience.
Following our test drive of the Equinox Fuel Cell, , we were certain these advanced hydrogen vehicles would have no problems keeping up with the daily driving demands of Project Driveway participants. Plenty of space for four passengers and 32 cubic feet of cargo volume were afforded by careful packaging of GM’s fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion system, including a 1.8 kWh nickel-metal-hydride battery pack and three 10,000 psi hydrogen storage tanks.
The Equinox Fuel Cell’s 160 mile driving range was designed to meet the needs of most driving chores. Sub-freezing operating capability was an additional advancement of particular importance to East Coast drivers. As is the case with most fuel cell vehicles, fueling up the Equinox with hydrogen was done in about the same amount of time as filling up a gasoline car. The hydrogen-powered Equinox Fuel Cell met the same federal safety standards as all cars. Importantly, it also attained the important benchmark of being certified a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) by EPA, the ultimate goal for all motor vehicles of the future.
Chevrolet’s Equinox Fuel Cell so impressed Green Car Journal editors at the time that it was recognized with the magazine’s Green Car Vision Award™. This marked the first time the magazine honored a limited production vehicle for its forward-thinking technologies and potential for influencing the future of personal mobility. For a highly advanced developmental hydrogen vehicle tasked with shepherding in an entirely new age of transportation, that’s perhaps the highest praise we could give.
As Chief Scientist for Toyota Motor Corporation, one of my most important responsibilities is to think about how to address climate change using science, data, and facts. When it comes to electrification, my role is to maximize environmental benefits with the limited number of battery cells the world can produce.
Toyota’s way of thinking about this question is strongly influenced by the Toyota Production System (TPS). It forms the basis for how we conserve resources and eliminate waste to maximize the quality, durability, reliability, and value of our products. Based on TPS, we believe that maximum net environmental benefit can be achieved by considering the most limited resource – in this case the battery cell.
Every battery cell is an investment of environmental and financial resources. Carbon is emitted for every battery cell produced. Once built, every battery cell has the potential to produce more benefit than what was invested, or what we call a positive Carbon Return on Investment (CROI). But that CROI is not guaranteed. The result depends on how the battery cell is put to use. The physics of climate change (which accumulates carbon in the atmosphere for decades) and limited battery cell production suggests that we minimize total carbon emissions from all of the world’s vehicles by maximizing the CROI of every manufactured battery cell.
Let’s consider the average U.S. commute of 32 miles roundtrip each day. In this case, a 300 mile range battery will yield a very low CROI. The reason is that the vehicle carries excessive battery capacity and excessive weight that is rarely needed or used. The bulk of the energy stored in the battery cell (and the battery cell’s weight) will be carried around most of the time for no purpose, consuming extra energy for its transport, and wasting the opportunity to use that energy for more benefit to the environment. In TPS terms, we consider this to be a waste of transport and inventory. Put another way, that same battery capacity could be spread over a handful of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), each of which would utilize most, if not all, of the battery capacity while rarely using its internal combustion engine (ICE). In this case, the overall CROI is higher for the same number of battery cells.
As another example: If a battery cell in a battery electric vehicle (BEV) is recharged by a high-carbon intensity powerplant, the CROI of that cell will be small compared to one recharged by a renewable energy powerplant. So in this case, consider a situation of two cars – one ICE-type and one BEV, and two geographic locations – one with renewable power and the other with high-carbon intensity power. More net CROI will be derived by operating the BEV in the area with renewable power and the ICE in the geography with non-renewable power than the other way around.
Finally, if a battery cell ends up in a long-range BEV whose price puts it beyond the budget of a consumer, or in a street parked vehicle that must use high-rate chargers that lower the battery cell’s life, the CROI will again be smaller than what is possible, versus placing the battery cell into, for example, a PHEV.
BEVs are an important part of the future of electrification. But we can achieve greater carbon reductions by meeting customer needs and circumstances with a diversity of solutions. Wasted CROI harms the environment because there is a limited supply of battery cells, and the cost of production to the planet and to the producer is not zero. Given this fact, how and where battery cells are actually used and charged are critically important.
In summary, given limited battery cell production and significant environmental and financial costs, the way to maximize CROI is to target battery cells into diverse vehicle types – hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles that match customer needs and circumstances, and maximize the CROI for every battery cell. This strategy is similar to running a factory efficiently in the Toyota Production System, where efficiency is maximized by eliminating waste at each stage of production and maximizing the benefit derived from every resource and cost. And it forms the basis for Toyota’s belief in this result.
Toyota has ‘fully rebooted’ the second-generation Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) for an evolving automotive arena. While the first-generation Mirai was a four-passenger, front-wheel-drive sedan with a decidedly futuristic design, the new Mirai is Toyota’s flagship sedan, a premium, rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger sports-luxury car in the vein of the Lexus LS, on whose GA-L platform the Mirai is now based. It’s offered in XLE and Limited trim levels, with corresponding differences in equipment and interior materials.
The new Mirai is larger in every dimension except height, more powerful, and has a longer cruising range. Its four-wheel independent multi-link suspension, replacing the previous car’s strut-type front and rear beam axle, improves the car’s handling and performance, as does the change to rear-wheel-drive and the configuration of its new fuel cell system. In combination, those latter two revisions give the Mirai a near 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.
The fuel cell stack in the new-generation Mirai, like the one in its predecessor, takes in hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity without combustion to power its rear-drive motor. Water vapor is the only emissions produced during the process. The stack is about 20 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter, and now fits under the sedan’s hood. A new power control unit and other changes to the stack result in a 12-percent power increase, boosting the Mirai’s rear-drive motor output to 182 horsepower and 221 lb-ft torque (versus the outgoing model’s 151 horsepower and 247 lb-ft).
Electricity is stored in a lithium-ion battery that’s smaller, lighter, and has greater capacity than the Mirai’s previous nickel-metal-hydride battery. The battery rides between the rear seat and the trunk. Three 10,000-psi carbon-fiber-reinforced tanks hold about 11 pounds of hydrogen, giving the Mirai 402 miles of range in XLE models, and 357 in the Limited. Toyota is continuing the practice of offering up to $15,000 of complimentary hydrogen with each Mirai.
Inside the Mirai are seats trimmed in SofTex synthetic leather. The dashboard is dominated by two digital displays, an 8-inch LCD gauge cluster in front of the driver and a 12.3-inch touchscreen in the center of the dash to operate the climate control, infotainment, and navigation systems. To bring down cabin temperatures and reduce the load on the Mirai’s air-conditioning system, Toyota engineers installed extra insulation in the roof and added UV protection in the side windows.
Both Mirai models come standard with Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.5+, a suite of active safety systems with several enhanced functions. Among them is the Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, which not only registers a vehicle ahead but a bicyclist or pedestrian in front of that vehicle.
Initially the Mirai is available in California only, but Toyota says it is fully optimized for cold-weather operation, hinting that broader availability may be in the works. The Mirai XLE is priced at $49,500 with the uplevel Limited coming in at $66,000 before substantial federal and California state incentives, and potential Toyota incentives as well.
Toyota has unveiled its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that will be available for sale to California customers in summer 2015. The Toyota FCV four-door sedan is forward-looking with its blending of traditional sleek styling and aggressive futuristic exterior touches.
This is quite a departure from the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell now on sale in California that packages hydrogen fuel cell power within a conventional-looking Tucson SUV. Honda took a more middle-of-the-road approach with its FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan that it began leasing to limited numbers of California customers in 2008, offering an advanced body design that, while not necessarily wildly futuristic, did preview many of the styling cues that would show up in Honda’s model lineup in future years.
Like its fuel cell competitors, the Toyota FCV is driven by electric motors powered by electricity electrochemically generated by a hydrogen fuel cell. Since there is no combustion, no CO2 is produced and the car emits only water vapor. The Toyota FCV is expected to travel 300 miles on a tank of hydrogen, providing the advantages of an electric car without the limitations of short driving range. Refueling is said to take less than five minutes.
While hydrogen fueling opportunities are admittedly sparse these days, Toyota is working toward a solution in California through its partnership with FirstElement Fuels. The aim is to support the long-term operation and maintenance of 19 new hydrogen refueling stations in that state, accessible by all model fuel cell vehicles. The availability of hydrogen fueling will determine where automakers initially offer their first fuel cell vehicles, thus the interest in California.
Many believe that the ultimate goal for electric transportation is the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV), with battery electric vehicles being just a step along the way. Hyundai is skipping this step and concentrating on developing and marketing FCVs. The automaker notes that affordable electric vehicle technology is best suited to smaller urban vehicles, not to larger family and utility vehicles that many families require to meet all of their needs.
To that end, Hyundai is poised to offer its next-generation Tucson Fuel Cell vehicle in Southern California Hyundai dealers starting sometime this spring. Production is taking place at the automaker’s Ulsan plant in Korea. Hyundai already began production of the ix35 Fuel Cell, the Tucson’s equivalent in Europe, at Ulsan in January 2013. Since the Ulsan plant builds the gasoline-powered Tucson CUV, this allows Hyundai to take advantage of both the high quality and cost-efficiency of its popular gasoline-powered Tucson platform.
Hyundai’s third-generation fuel cell vehicle features significant improvements over its predecessor, including a 50 percent increase in driving range and 15 percent better fuel efficiency. The Tucson and ix35 Fuel Cell are equipped with a 100 kilowatt electric motor, allowing a top speed just shy of 100 mph. Instantaneous 221 lb-ft torque from the electric motor means spritely acceleration.
Sufficient hydrogen for an approximate 370 mile range is stored in two hydrogen tanks. Refueling is accomplished in less than 10 minutes, providing daily utility comparable with its gasoline counterpart. Electrical energy is stored in a 24 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion polymer battery that’s been jointly developed with LG Chemical. The fuel cell reliably starts in temperatures as low as -20 degrees C (-4 degrees F). Unlike battery electric vehicles there is minimal capacity decrease at very low temperatures.
Hyundai’s fuel cell fleet has completed over two million durability test miles since 2000. Extensive crash, fire, and leak testing have been successfully completed. Hyundai says that high reliability and long-term durability come as a matter of course with the power-generating fuel cell stack, which has no internal moving parts.
The Hyundai Fuel Cell will be leased for $499 per month on a 36 month term, with $2,999 down. This includes unlimited free hydrogen refueling and At Your Service Valet Maintenance at no extra cost. Hyundai will initially offer the Tucson Fuel Cell in the Los Angeles/Orange County areas at four dealerships that will have hydrogen refueling capability. The automaker says that availability will expand to other regions of the country consistent with the accelerating deployment of hydrogen refueling stations.
Hyundai is also partnering with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to rent the Tucson Fuel Cell at select locations in the initial lease regions. This will allow interested consumers to evaluate the Tucson Fuel Cell for their lifestyles on a multi-day basis. Rentals are also planned sometime this spring.