While most of the world is abuzz with taking up electric vehicles and Governments are making what some would suggest are unrealistic goals, I find it fascinating that the one company, Toyota, that is fully embracing the hydrogen cell as a real environmental alternative is being lambasted by many in the green sector of our community as doing nothing to support the electric vehicle cause and so save our planet!

Now I’m not anti EV’s, in fact I think they are amazing in so many ways and have a place in helping the worlds environmental situation, but I don’t believe they are the ultimate solution. I have concerns about the life, recycling, and manufacturing of the batteries, including the mining process of extracting the rare metals for their manufacture, and question that the recharging process of the batteries using what some call ‘dirty power’ is questionable.

Getting back to Toyota, I think that even though they are not at the forefront of the EV movement, they are far from anti the environment as some would suggest and have probably done more to change motoring for the better than any other vehicle manufacturer in the world.

For example, it was in 1997 that Toyota released in Japan and then to the world the Prius with the hybrid drive train, which one could argue was the first car to endorse the movement to electric vehicles, and they have continually pushed for Hydrogen as the viable option for the future of environmentally friendly vehicles.

The Toyota Miria, which uses Hydrogen to generate electricity in a fuel cell, powering an electric motor, has also been produced across two generations of vehicles since 2014.

According to Toyota’s new CEO Koji Sato, “Toyota wants to ensure that hydrogen stays a viable option. We need a production and transport supply chain. Unless we see evolution there, we cannot expect a volume increase in the energy’s use”.

Consequently, Toyota have aligned themselves with Kawasaki Heavy Industries who build liquid hydrogen carrier ships and energy company Iwatani Corporation to provide better infrastructure for hydrogen powered cars in Japan.

As an example of their commitment to hydrogen cell, since 2021 Toyota has showcased several prototype cars that are powered by petrol engines which have been converted to run on both gas and liquid hydrogen which emits no emissions.

Here’s a Car Maniacs video that looks at one of Toyota’s most recent and exciting developments, The Hydrogen Combustion Engine

Toyota’s Hydrogen Combustion Engine – Car Maniacs

So, let’s not get blind-sided by people and organisations who one could question have ulterior motives, and ignore Hydrogen Cell technology as a genuine alternative to the EV onslaught