Toyota just beat hydrogen forever New technology America doesn’t know about

EcoNews carries an article about Japan which has just made another leap of decades in the search for a fuel that surpasses hydrogen, Caliber.Az reprints the article.

Japan has just made another leap of decades (and there are already several) in the search for a fuel that surpasses hydrogen, although they want to produce it in its “pink” version. They have presented a new technology that we do not know in America, and have begun the launch of their first engines to revolutionize the roads. Do you know which one we are talking about? You’ve never heard of it, but we’ll tell you that it goes far beyond the FCEVs you know.

Toyota led the way in hydrogen engines: now they are going for something even more innovative

A recent example of a major automaker engaging in hydrogen technology is Toyota, which claims to be on its way to bringing hydrogen technology to scale and has invested significantly to make the business carbon-neutral in Europe by 2040. The company has been working on the further improvement of the future models of hydrogen-fueled cell systems.

Toyota has been trying out liquid hydrocarbon combustion engines which have several advantages over compressed gaseous hydrogen used in FCEVS. Hydrogen in a liquid state is denser in energy, which means that very nearly 50 per cent more of the energy resource can be amassed in a given volume.

It also can be dear under regular pressure, thus it will not require high-pressure tanks for storage. As much as these engines present exciting opportunities, they have several difficulties attached to them. For example, the fuel pump, which is a critical component of the internal combustion engine, has some problems that need to be solved:

It degrades quickly and operates ineffectively because it cannot be lubricated with oil since this would hash the hydrogen fuel.

Besides, when retaining very cold temperatures, it is hard to have the right fit between pump sections without leakage.

What is Toyota planning to do for the future? Goodbye to FCEVs as we know them

Toyota has plans for future generations of hydrogen fuel cell technologies that will have a high level of performance as compared to the current levels in the industry. The use of new technology will result in increased life cycles, energy storage number mileage, and reduced costs of manufacturing.

The company plans to bring this into the commercial market in 2026 generating a higher power density and an increase in driving range of 20 per cent as compared to the existing systems. The new fuel cell system is also planned to cut the costs by thirty-five plus percent caused by technical improvements and by raising the consequent output.

Toyota currently has plans to illustrate its commitment to hydrogen by investing in plants and partnering with other industries. Hydrogen Factory Europe has been created to establish a better structure of hydrogen technology as well as facilitate its commercialization across facilities.

This is based on the research and development of fuel cell systems, production of the systems, and support for commerce partners. Toyota is also focusing on developing the social system and consolidating cooperating partners to push forward the application of hydrogen and establish a ‘hydrogen society’.

The next generation of hydrogen engines could have been started: we know how it will be 

Therefore the next generation of FCEVs shall play a paramount role in the future transportation systems. Toyota’s new fuel cell technology will give an efficient output that includes an enhancement of driving range and, consequently, the demand for FCEVs over BEVs.

Hydrogen is also seen in the transport section, especially for the production of heavy-duty transport like workshop trucks and buses which will assist in the demystification of carbon in such sectors. Further, Toyota is expanding Large-scale metal hydride tanks for liquid hydrogen systems in commercial vehicles, which will further enhance the hydrogen demand and reduce manufacturing prices.

Still, there are challenges that FCEV resources face when compared to BEVs, even though the latter is growing in popularity. Combustion engines using hydrogen fuel are less efficient than BEVs, the efficiency of hydrogen combustion engines is from 20 per cent to 40 per cent while BEVs have an efficiency level of 77 per cent. 

The key to Japan is not conventional liquid fuels (nor the gaseous fuels you have seen with us), but the new generation of hydrogen engines. This could be the solution not only to the problem of autonomy and range anxiety but also to increase the thermal efficiency that a combustion engine needs. You believe that this solution will open the door to a new generation of FCEVs, and everything points to this being the case in the medium term.