ROV Concept: Lexus also pilots the hydrogen combustion engine

Spartan Nobility

Thanks to the lightweight body made from a sturdy tubular frame and the off-road suspension with long travel, the ROV Concept offers a natural driving experience. The wheel suspension cover is connected to the hydrogen tank at the rear and protects the components. The simple display in the interior shows all essential information without distracting the driver. Despite the spartan-looking buggy concept, the vehicle is said to offer high build quality and a luxurious appearance. Standard features include a leather steering wheel, an ergonomically shaped gear knob, and seats with synthetic leather covers and spring elements that compensate for uneven surfaces.

"The ROV Concept is our response to the growing passion for nature and the adventurous spirit of our customers," says Spiros Fotinos, head of Lexus Europe.

The concept vehicle is intended to represent a lifestyle-oriented product while taking a step further toward CO2 neutrality, Fotinos continues.

What does this mean?

Running an internal combustion engine sustainably? That has long been possible, called Bio-CNG, but unfortunately it was grossly neglected as a bridging technology in passenger cars. Only in trucks are biomethane engines, also as long-distance capable LNG, currently writing a success story. Against this background, it is even more surprising why Toyota is now opening another "barrel" and, after the relatively hopeless fuel cell technology for passenger cars—at least still usable for trucks—is now also pushing the hydrogen combustion engine and sees this as a future drive. The corporation has recently announced its first full-electric vehicle for 2022, and at the luxury subsidiary Lexus, the compact SUV UX300e was the company's very first electric vehicle, which is only sporadically seen on the roads. But they don't seem to be really convinced by BEVs, more driven. What they apparently truly believe in is hydrogen, in the fuel cell, but now also as a standalone H2 combustion engine solution.

However, drive experts are not very enthusiastic about it: First, the production of H2 is extremely energy-intensive and only climate-friendly if it is generated from green electricity. Currently, this is almost non-existent, because blue H2 is generated from natural gas, and gray hydrogen comes from even more harmful fossil sources like coal or oil. Secondly, the inefficiency of the combustion engine compared to an electric motor remains, even if the H2 engine operates at the level of a very good conventional gasoline engine.

So, two inefficient technologies have been coupled here, while with electric cars, the energy flows quite straightforwardly into the batteries and is then converted into propulsion most efficiently, aside from any transmission losses. There's no doubt we'll need hydrogen in the future energy mix. But as the "champagne" among fuels—or in this case, energy carriers—it certainly won't be used in small cars or quirky special vehicles like buggies. Instead, in planes, possibly locomotives, or ships. And much more urgently in industrial production, for example, steelmaking. Anything else would be a waste. Also, of time.

It is strange that the once so visionary hybrid pioneer Toyota stubbornly clings to the "business model" of combustion engines, at best hybridizing them, instead of using all its energy to not let the huge gap in battery-electric drives get even bigger. In almost no vehicle class in 2021 is it necessary to buy a combustion engine that causes fossil emissions for ten to fifteen years. Even small cars are now fully electric, affordable for everyone thanks to generous subsidies. Additionally, the supply of used BEVs is growing. That would have been a statement from the Far East: Instead of a full-size SUV, Toyota launches an affordable electric Aygo—and as early as next year. In the well-stocked class of electric SUVs, the unpronounceable Bz4X is at best a "me too."

The stubborn insistence on the combustion engine, which they also plan to develop further without hesitation, is reminiscent of the Japanese's inability to learn from the nuclear power issue, which despite the Fukushima disaster is to be expanded to 20 to 22 percent by 2030 and is considered environmentally friendly. The giant corporation must be careful not to get "Kodaked," like the color film pioneer with the advent of digital cameras. Correcting wrong paths is not a weakness, but a strength.