Toyota pushes hydrogen combustion: Far Eastern stubbornness

Operate an internal combustion engine sustainably? That has long been possible. It is called Bio-CNG and unfortunately has been greatly neglected as a bridging technology in passenger cars, despite it already being capable of achieving climate neutrality in vehicle operation AND manufacturing, and also contributing to local value creation, provided the fuel is derived from straw or waste residues. Nevertheless, biomethane drives, also suitable for long-distance as LNG, are currently succeeding primarily in trucks.

Against this backdrop, one wonders even more why Toyota is opening another "can of worms" and, after the rather hopeless fuel cell technology for passenger cars, which can at least still be used for trucks, is now also pushing the hydrogen combustion engine and viewing it as a future drive technology.

The company recently announced its first full-electric vehicle for 2022, and with the luxury subsidiary Lexus, the compact SUV UX300e was the first electric car in the group, but it is seen on the roads rather sporadically. However, Toyota does not seem truly convinced of BEVs, rather driven by necessity. What they apparently really believe in is hydrogen, not only in the fuel cell but now also as a standalone solution with hydrogen combustion engines.

Combining two inefficient technologies

Drive experts are not too enthusiastic about this: Firstly, the production of H2 is enormously energy-intensive and only climate-friendly if derived from green electricity. Currently, this is almost non-existent, as blue H2 is produced from natural gas, and gray hydrogen 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 petrol engine.

Thus, two inefficient technologies are being combined, whereas with electric cars, the energy, apart from any transmission losses, flows almost directly into the batteries and is converted highly efficiently into propulsion. Absolutely, we will need hydrogen in the future drive mix. But as the "champagne" among fuels – or in this case, energy carriers, certainly not in small cars or quirky special vehicles like buggies. Rather in airplanes, perhaps locomotives, or ships. And much more urgently in industrial production, such as steel manufacturing. Anything else would be a waste. Also of time.

It's strange that the once-so-visionary hybrid pioneer Toyota stubbornly sticks to the "business model" of internal combustion engines, at most hybridized, instead of putting all its energy into ensuring the widening gap in battery-electric drives does not grow any larger. In 2021, there is virtually no vehicle class that necessitates buying a combustion engine that will cause fossil emissions for ten to fifteen years. Even today, there are fully electric small cars, affordable for everyone thanks to generous subsidies. Furthermore, the supply of used BEVs is growing.

That would have been a statement from the Far East: Instead of a full-size SUV, Toyota introduces an affordable electric Aygo - and that already next year.

Instead, the ingeniously space-efficient Mini Aygo was recently completely relaunched: Exclusively as a combustion engine! In 2021?! With a consumption of 5 liters per 100 km of fossil petrol! For 15,000 euros, you can also get a fully equipped electric Dacia Spring or a cool and genuinely clever e.GO Life. In the abundantly stocked class of electric SUVs, the unpronounceable bz4x is at best a "me too".

The stubborn persistence in holding on to the combustion engine, which they want to further develop cheerfully and undeterred, is reminiscent of the Japanese inability to learn regarding nuclear power, which despite the Fukushima disaster is supposed to be expanded to 20 to 22 percent by 2030 and is considered environmentally friendly. The huge corporation must be careful not to get "Kodaked," like the color film pioneer with the advent of digital cameras. Recognizing misdevelopments and correcting wrong paths is not a weakness but a strength. Eastern wisdom? In this case, rather: Eastern stubbornness.