The race to bring fuel cell cars to market became more exciting this week with product confirmations by Honda and Toyota.
Toyota’s long-awaited offering will hit the market first; the Mirai (“future”) will go on sale in Europe and California in 2015. It’s an apt name: Toyota has told Automotive World it believes fuel cell technology will be the prevailing technology for the next hundred years. The Mirai comes with a 300 mile range and a sub-5 minute refuelling time.
Honda’s launch has been quietly delayed by a year, and still remains unnamed. The OEM has confirmed that the production version of its FCV Concept will launch in Japan, followed by the US and Europe, by the end of March 2016.
Both OEMs have done considerable work on the FCV front. Indeed, Honda has already had a fuel cell car on the road, in the form of its limited run, lease-only FCX Clarity, available only in Japan and California. The FCV, it says, is the continuation of that model.
The race to bring fuel cell cars to market became more exciting this week with product confirmations by Honda and Toyota
We should stop at this point and make an important clarification: Toyota’s car will not hit the market first. That honour went to Hyundai’s Tucson Fuel Cell, also available in some markets as the ix35 Fuel Cell; the Tucson/ix35 Fuel Cell has for some time now been available in Europe and California, and the OEM’s lead leaves Toyota and Honda chasing second place.
Hyundai’s Frank Meijer has said he’d like to see some healthy competition. It’s a bold statement from a first mover, but it makes sense: one OEM does not have the volume or the influence to secure the necessary infrastructure investment. Having two or three OEMs with products on the road makes a considerable difference, especially if they play a part in infrastructure installation.
And Toyota has done just that. The OEM has partnered with Air Liquide to build 12 hydrogen stations – strategically positioned to accommodate the Mirai’s 300 mile range – in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Add to that list the stations already in place, or under construction, in California, and these locations provide a clear indication of where the Mirai will be sold first in the US. Honda is expected to play its own part in an infrastructure roll-out.
For various reasons – including the controversial zero emission vehicle credit scheme – California is where FCVs make sense. It’s also where the industry is gathering this week for the LA Auto Show – hence the timing of these product announcements.
FCVs have always been a decade away. Fuel prices are on the decline, and ICE-powered SUV sales are on the rise. Is the demand really there – or will FCVs remain forever a decade away?
The absence of the major domestics from the fuel cell race is notable. Ford and GM have their own fuel cell programmes, but have not published anything as specific as a model name or a launch date. The Volkswagen Group, however, is playing the FCV game at LA, with two 310 mile range fuel cell concepts; the VW brand exhibit is the Golf SportWagen HyMotion; the other is the Audi A7 Sportback h-tron Quattro, a technology study that combines plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Audi’s Dr. Hackenberg says Audi has mastered fuel cell technology, and is ready to launch “as soon as the market and infrastructure are ready.” Fuel cell cars have always been a decade away, but rising oil prices had begun making FCVs an attractive proposition. Lately, though, things have changed: fuel prices are on the decline, and ICE-powered SUV sales are on the rise. Is the demand really there – or will FCVs remain forever a decade away?
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Martin Kahl is Editor, Automotive World.
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