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Toyota reportedly working on a hydrogen-fueled Lexus limo
Toyota's first hydrogen car hasn't even gone on sale yet here in the US, and already we're hearing rumors about a follow-up vehicle. According to the Australian website Motoring, the Japanese auto giant is planning on taking the same fuel cell system it used in its mid-range Mirai sedan, and putting it into a higher-end Lexus LS limousine. For the most part, then, the new vehicle will make use of the same technology, though Toyota will apparently have to do some retro-fitting in order to make it work inside the current Lexus LS. (Unlike the LS, the Mirai was built from scratch as a hydrogen car.) If Motoring's report is correct, the new Lexus will have a fuel cell under the front seat, with the hydrogen tanks located behind the rear seat. Also, despite the fact that the LS wasn't originally designed as a hydrogen vehicle, it will reportedly offer nearly the same range as Toyota's existing FCEV: 239 miles, versus 300 on the Mirai. No word yet on price or whether this report is even true. And we suspect it could be a while before anyone sets the record straight -- the hydrogen-fueled Lexus LS is rumored to launch "by 2017," up to two years from now.
What you need to know about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
Damn the torpedoes (and Teslas)! Two of Japan's biggest automakers are about to make sizable wagers on a different kind of clean fuel tech: hydrogen power. Toyota will launch the $57,500 Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV, above) next year, while hydrogen veteran Honda will out a model in 2016. But wait, aren't EVs the last word in green cars? Fuel cell cars are EVs, in a way, but you can fill one up with hydrogen in five minutes rather than waiting hours for a charge. The only way to do that in an electric vehicle (EV) is by swapping the entire battery. So why is there exactly one production FCV available to buy today, but EVs everywhere? That's a tale of efficiency, fuel, pollution and politics.
Toyota's hydrogen car gets a name and more US filling stations (update: and price)
Toyota has announced that its upcoming fuel cell vehicle (FCV) will be called the Mirai and that it's building a network of hydrogen stations in the US Northeast to support it. The $69,000 (update: maybe as cheap as $45,000 -- check after the break)vehicle is due to arrive in the US in 2016. The Japanese automaker proclaimed that "the future has arrived," (Mirai means "future" in Japanese) which may make the thousands of people who've owned a Honda FCX Clarity FCV since 2005 gag. But despite being late to the game, Toyota is now making a huge bet on FCVs. It has teamed with Air Liquide to build 12 hydrogen stations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The stations will be "strategically placed" so that drivers of the 300-mile-range Mirai can tool around the region without (much) anxiety. Previously, Toyota said that 19 hydrogen stations would be installed in California.
Mercedes-Benz completes hydrogen-powered F-Cell World Drive, but had to bring its own fuel
At January's Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz eagerly showed off its hydrogen-powered F-Cell car, vowing to prove the viability of fuel-cell vehicles by driving three of them around the world. And now, 18,641 total miles later, it's completed that circumnavigation, arriving safely home at the company's Stuttgart headquarters. Does this prove fuel-cells are ready for prime time? Well, the trip took 70 driving days to cover four continents, and the vehicles' range topped out at just over 400 miles -- in Kazahkstan. But M-B admits there are only 200 refilling stations worldwide; in most cases the F-Cells had to rely on a tag-along mobile refueling unit. The company hopes its demonstration will spur development in a refilling-station infrastructure: having a fuel-cell car you can't easily refuel must feel like owning a flying DeLorean in 1885. To get the full breakdown, see the Mercedes-Benz PR after the break.
RC car runs on soda can rings, Doc Brown approves (video)
Many a future engineer was inspired by Back to the Future's Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, and not just because he proved that unkempt eccentrics could truly change the world. No, he also pioneered Mr. Fusion, the coffee maker/cold fusion reactor that turned garbage into energy. And while we're still waiting for cold fusion and time travel to become a reality, today we're all one step closer to waste-powered cars. A pair of Spanish engineers have recently unveiled the dAlH2Orean (see what they did there?), a R/C car that runs on aluminum. Dropping a few soda can tabs into a tank of sodium hydroxide produces enough hydrogen to power the little speedster for 40 minutes – at almost 20mph. Hit the video above to see it in action, along with your daily helping of the Chemical Brothers. Fitting.
OSU Buckeye Bullet 2 sets new battery-powered speed record
Ohio State's Buckeye Bullet 2 has just set a new battery-powered vehicle record after hitting a speed of 291 mph averaged over two separate runs done back-to-back in opposite directions. Yes, it's technically slower than the two-way land speed record of 300.992 mph the original Bullet set back in 2009, but that car was powered by hydrogen fuel cells. This year's model instead was developed in partnership with boutique Monaco-based electric car manufacturer Venturi and replaced the fuel cells with lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems. It's also apparently a testing prototype for a new car that's coming in 2011. Will that car hit these kind of world record speeds? Probably not, but we're not letting that dash our newly formed geek fantasy of seeing it drag against a Tesla.
Honda shows off conceptual, solar-powered station to refill your conceptual, hydrogen-powered car (video)
Hydrogen-powered cars, like Honda's FCX Clarity, face a lot of hurdles, not the least of which being a fuel source requiring more energy to produce than it in turn gives out as energy. Honda is showing one way to mitigate that with its conceptual home-based recharging station. It relies on a six-kilowatt solar array to power an electrolyzer, splitting water molecules into hydrogen atoms. Eight hours of sunlight generates a half-kilogram of hydrogen, enough for the FCX to cover about 30 miles -- your average commute. However, there are some obvious concerns, not the least of which being that massive solar array (shown on the right in the picture above), which is twice the size of car it's powering. Then there's the cost, and while Honda isn't saying how much this might set you back if it ever did come to production, we're guessing it'd make the JFE Engineering's $60k quick charger look like something of a bargain.
ITM Power shows off in-home hydrogen fueling station
Hydrogen cars may not be quite as in favor as hybrids or all-electrics these days, but ITM Power looks to be doing its best to at least make 'em a bit more convenient, with it now showing off a re-fueling station that it says could be installed in the home. Like similar systems, this one makes use of an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen gas from water and electricity, which can also be converted back into electricity with the aid of an internal combustion generator to provide power to the house. You'll only be able to produce enough gas overnight to travel about 25 miles, however, but the company (like so many others) foresees higher-pressure refueling units being installed in public places, which'd be able to provide enough gas to travel 100 miles. While there's no firm word on a release for the home unit, ITM says it "could" be commercially available as soon as this year, and it says the price could eventually get down to around £2,000 (or about $4,000) if they're mass produced.
