INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By 2025, Toyota plans to have 15 EV models available.Tokyo: As U.N
climate conference delegates considered how to save the planet over the weekend in Glasgow, Toyota Motor's chief executive was in Japan
racing an experimental hydrogen car - a vehicle he says could preserve millions of auto jobs.The colourful Toyota Corolla Sport that Akio
Toyoda steered around the Okayama International Circuit in western Japan was powered by a converted GR Yaris engine running on hydrogen
Making such a powerplant commercially viable could keep internal combustion engines running in a carbon-free world."The enemy is carbon, not
internal combustion engines
We shouldn't just focus on one technology but make use of the technologies we already posses," Toyoda said at the track
"Carbon neutrality is not about one having a single choice, but about keeping options open."Toyota's latest push into hydrogen tech comes
as the world's biggest carmaker joins the rush to win a share of the growing market for battery electric vehicles (BEV) as the world
tightens emission regulations to meet carbon-cutting pledges.By 2025, Toyota plans to have 15 EV models available and is investing $13.5
billion over a decade to expand battery production.Not Only ElectricAt the gathering in Glasgow, six major carmakers, including General
Motors, Ford Motor, Sweden's Volvo and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz signed declaration to phase out fossil-fuel cars by 2040.Toyota
declined to join that group, arguing that much of the world is not ready for a shift to EVs
Another notable absence was Germany's Volkswagen."We don't want to be seen as an EV maker, but as a carbon-neutral company," Toyota Vice
Chairman Shigeru Hayakawa told Reuters in an interview.Hayakawa likened the technological choice facing the auto industry to the late 19th
century contest that pitted direct current electricity transmission against alternating current
The stakes are high."If the adoption of carbon-free fuels happens quickly, that could bring the first battery EV boom to an end," said
Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at auto industry research company Carnorama.In Japan, where mass layoffs are politically difficult, hydrogen's
allure is that it would cause less disruption than a full switch to EVs
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association estimates the automotive industry employs 5.5 million people.Although Toyota and other car
makers are putting resources into building hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV), none have shown the appetite Toyota has for hydrogen engine
technology.Challenging TechnologyOne problem that it the engine is not completely carbon-free and cannot therefore be classed as
zero-emission.Although the byproduct of hydrogen and oxygen combustion is water, a small amount of engine metal burns as well, resulting in
about 2% of the emissions of a gasoline engine
The exhaust also contains traces of nitrogen oxide.There is a carbon cost to building electric car batteries, but EVs do not pollute when
operated.Hydrogen cars also need bulky pressurized tanks for their fuel
Much of the rear seat and trunk in Toyota's hydrogen car was taken up by fuel tanks that blocked the rear window.Safety concerns meant
Toyota engineers had to refuel the vehicle far from the pits where other teams worked on their cars.Such concerns have also slowed the
construction of hydrogen fuelling stations in Japan, despite Japanese government backing for the fuel, which it sees as a key component in
the country's future carbon-neutral energy mix.At the end of August, there were 154 hydrogen stations in Japan - six short of what the
government wanted by the end of March."Hydrogen has long been known as a potential low-carbon transport fuel, but establishing it in the
transport fuel mix has been difficult," the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a progress report this month.Even with adequate fuel
infrastructure, Toyota still must build a vehicle that can compete in price, range and operating cost with conventional gasoline cars and
EVs.In Okayama, Toyoda declined to say when Toyota might launch a commercial hydrogen-engine car."It's good to have a lot of choices
If everything becomes EVs then much of that industry is in China," said Eiji Terasaki (57), who had travelled to the Okayama circuit from
neighbouring Kagawa prefecture to watch the races.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from
