No Toyota FHEVs for Oz
Fuel cell hybrids off Toyota Australia's agenda — for nowToyota Australia has no short or medium term plans to offer fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FHEVs) for sale Down Under.
Although the company has already released its new FCV fuel-cell hybrid sedan for sale in Japan and will offer it in the UK in 2015, there are no plans to bring right-hand drive versions of the Corolla-sized four-door to dealerships in Australia.
The vehicle is Toyota's first scaled production FHEV. It features a 100kW-plus hydrogen-fuelled fuel cell which creates electricity via a chemical reaction. The technology is not new (the first fuel cell was postulated in the mid-1800s) but was nascent until resurrected by the NASA space program in the 1950s and 60.
In the last ten years Toyota has built various proof of concept vehicles, culminating in the production FCV.
In Japan, the vehicle is on sale at around ¥70m, approx $73,000. End users can receive a government subsidy of up to around $30,000 to offset the purchase price.
Pricing for the USA, Germany and the UK where the FCV will be sold in 2015 has not been announced.
Toyota claims a range of around 480km for the FCV. The FCV carries 5kg of compressed gaseous hydrogen in two carbon-fibre reinforced cylinders. Refueling takes 3-5mins — comparable to a petrol-powered car, says Toyota.
Toyota Australia's product communications manager, Steve Coughlan, told motoring.com.au that there are no plans to sell the FCV in Australia.
"We're excited by the technology, but there are no plans to offer a H-FCV [Toyota's acronym for FHEVs] for sale in Australia at this time," Coughlan stated.
"Locally H-FCVs present challenges in terms of infrastructure and consumer awareness... While we can't predict the availability of future infrastructure, our aim is to educate people on the merits of hydrogen and debunk the myths surrounding this fuel," he said.
"The FCV demonstrates Toyota remains at the cutting edge of sustainable mobility on the global stage," Coughlan opined.
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