Toyota sticks with the internal combustion engine - with hydrogen

Where the journey could go mid-term for the hybrid pioneer Toyota is now being demonstrated by the Japanese with an alternative drive concept based on the Toyota GR Yaris. The sport version of the small car is being showcased as a study with an experimental, hydrogen-powered combustion engine. This concept vehicle is almost emission-free, promotes the manufacturer, which is currently under massive pressure due to the delayed electrification of drives.

Additionally, there have been repeated accusations that the company is hindering the introduction of stricter emission and CO2 standards worldwide. Recently, the British think tank InfluenceMap even ranked Toyota among the top three companies globally that most heavily lobby against climate policies in line with the Paris Agreement. The study is substantiated with detailed data on cash flows and positions taken in political committees. Among German companies, BMW (18th) fares poorly, but also Daimler (24th) and Hyundai (25th) from the automotive industry, which as a group stands very negatively towards strict climate regulations for the automotive sector," judged the organization. Only the global Toyota rival Volkswagen is seen by the think tank in a separate analysis of German automakers on the path from a mixed to an increasingly engaged climate policy.

"Toyota Motor has opposed proposed regulations to phase out internal combustion engines in favor of electric vehicles globally in 2020-21," is the harsh judgment on the former environmental leader. 

Against this background, developments around the hydrogen combustion engine are also taking shape. While the fuel cell sedan Mirai converts hydrogen into electrical energy, the energy carrier in the GR Yaris serves as an alternative fuel for the combustion engine. The hydrogen itself, the high-pressure tanks, and the refueling process are identical to those of the family sedan. Under the hood of the now presented GR Yaris Concept works the 1.6-liter inline three-cylinder G16E-GTS with turbocharging, which is also used in the production model of the small sports car, where it has a fuel consumption according to WLTP of 8.2 l/100 km or CO2 emissions of 186 g/km.

Toyota believes in the hydrogen combustion engine

A modified fuel and injection system enables operation with hydrogen, explains the provider of this so far unique approach for passenger cars. Hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines are still in the early stages of development and testing with the Japanese, having only started in 2017. On the way to market readiness, the company is testing the technology, among other things, in motorsports. A hydrogen-powered Corolla Sport, for example, has already shown an impressive performance in Japanese racing series – with almost zero exhaust emissions, at least locally. As part of the Super Taikyu series, the race car even completed the demanding 24-hour race in Fuji.

"We have taken the first step to make our hydrogen-powered engine competitive and to continually develop it further. I think things will look a little different in ten years. People will look back and see how we took on this great challenge and enjoyed every moment," says Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation.

Alongside the positive environmental impacts, the manufacturer sees many advantages for hydrogen, especially in motorsports. Because it burns faster than gasoline, it leads to excellent responsiveness. At the same time, hydrogen engines – also through complementary acoustic and sensory experience – offer the driving pleasure that is typical of combustion engines.

Ambitious climate goals according to their own account

On the way to CO2 neutrality, Toyota claims to be pursuing ambitious sustainability goals. "Green" produced hydrogen plays a crucial role for the Japanese in reducing emissions. The fuel cell technology can be used not only in the passenger car and truck sectors but also in shipping, rail, and aviation as well as for industrial purposes, such as forklifts. Even mobile generators powered by hydrogen improve the environmental balance, believes the firm from the Far East. Through continuous development and improvement of its hydrogen engine technologies in motorsports, it aims to offer another alternative and thus pave the way to a hydrogen-based society.

What does it mean?

Running a combustion engine sustainably? That has long been possible, called bio-CNG, but it has been unfortunately neglected for passenger cars as a bridging technology. Only with trucks are biomethane drives, also as long-range LNG, currently a success story. Against this background, one wonders even more why Toyota is now opening another "barrel" and, after the rather hopeless fuel cell technology in passenger cars – which can at least still be used for trucks – is also pushing the hydrogen combustion engine and sees it as a future drive. The company has recently announced its first full-electric vehicle for 2022 and the luxury subsidiary Lexus had the compact SUV UX300e as the company's very first electric vehicle, which you see rather sporadically on the streets. But they do not seem truly convinced by BEVs, more driven. What they apparently really believe in is hydrogen, in the Fuel Cell, but now also as a standalone H2 internal combustion engine.

However, drive experts do not hold much of it: First, the production of H2 is enormously energy-intensive and only climate-friendly if it is generated from green electricity. Currently, that is hardly ever the case, as blue H2 is generated from natural gas and gray hydrogen from even more harmful fossil sources such as coal or oil. Secondly, the inefficiency of the combustion engine remains compared to an e-machine, even if the H2 engine were to operate at the level of a very good conventional gasoline engine.

So here we have two inefficient technologies combined, while with the electric vehicle, the energy flows quite straight into the batteries aside from any line losses and is converted very efficiently into motion. No question, we will need hydrogen in the future's 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. But in airplanes, perhaps locomotives or ships. And otherwise, much more urgently in industrial production, such as steel. Anything else would be a waste. Of time, too.

It's strange that the once visionary hybrid pioneer Toyota sticks so stubbornly to the "business model" of the combustion engine, at most hybridized, instead of focusing all energy on ensuring the enormous gap in battery-electric drives does not get even wider. In 2021, there is almost no vehicle class that necessitates buying a combustion engine that will cause fossil emissions for ten to fifteen years. Even micro-cars are available today fully electric, thanks to generous subsidies making them affordable for everyone. Moreover, the offer of used BEVs is growing. That would have been an announcement from the Far East: Instead of a full-sized SUV, Toyota brings a budget electric Aygo – and as soon as next year. In the generously equipped class of electric SUVs, the unpronounceable Bz4X is at best a "me too".

The consultancy-resistant insistence on the combustion engine, which they want to continue to develop joyfully and undeterred, reminds one of the Japanese's learning incapacity on the topic of 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 giant company needs to be careful not to get "Kodaked," like the pioneer in color film during the advent of digital cameras. Correcting misconceptions is not a weakness but a strength.