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Bruce Newton26 Nov 2013
REVIEW

Toyota FCV 2013: Quick Spin

This could be the most important car of the 21st century. Then again…

Toyota FCV?
Quick Spin?

As far as important first drives go this could rank right up there.

Then again, these couple of laps on a short test track near Toyota City in Japan could prove to be a trip up a metaphorical blind alley.

It simply depends on whether Toyota’s decision to back hydrogen fuel cell over plug-in as the refuelling system for electric cars of the future is the right call or not.

There are riders, clauses and provisos in that, but what it boils down to is Toyota sees the battery-electric vehicle as being suitable for inner cities and short hops, while the hydrogen fuel cell stack is what will power the car in its traditional, orthodox role beyond those confines. Eventually.

Toyota underlined its commitment to hydrogen by unveiling the FCV concept at the Tokyo motor show last week, making clear it was very much indicative of what would be on sale as soon as 2015 in selected locations in Japan, the US and Europe.

The exterior of the concept with its three large front intakes will translate closely to production. It is a large car, with a 2780mm wheelbase and 4870mm overall length.

A four-door four-seat sedan with a price between $50,000 and $100,000, performance roughly equivalent to a Holden Volt, a cruising range as high as 700km and a refuelling time of around three minutes is what Toyota is promising we will get.

Only we – as in Australians – won’t get it. That’s because the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure doesn’t exist here and might not for a decade. It might take hours to refuel your plug-in Nissan LEAF, but at least you can do it.

Anyway, enough of that. We are at the Fujioka Aisin (as in the subsidiary of Toyota) test track, surveying several disguised Lexus HS vehicles. In production form the HS is a close relation of the Toyota Prius petrol-electric hybrid. We don’t get it in Australia

But these HS cars, clad in florid black and white vinyl, are powered by the FCV’s drivetrain in a form that is very close to production, but now is going through extensive validation on the road and test track.

The system starts with an electric motor under the bonnet driving the front wheels, then adds Toyota’s latest generation compact fuel stack under the front seat capable of producing at least 100kW, a battery pack (of unspecified chemistry) and two high-pressure fuel tanks under the rear seat and boot.

A power control unit manages the whole complex process of managing outputs, charging and discharging.

So the hydrogen mixes with oxygen in the fuel cell stack producing electricity and water. The former is stored in the battery, the latter expelled via a tail-pipe. Electricity is also created via regenerative braking.

From that point on it’s just a case of driving it like any other electric car – or car. Which is what we did.

Jump in and the first thing you notice is the carpet-like covering over just about all the instrument panel and centre console. There’s a temporary speedo rigged up across the top of the dashboard.

Then it’s just a case of press the start button on the dash, release the foot parking brake, select drive in the Prius-like shifter and go.

As is typical of electric vehicles, acceleration is of the strong, silent type. There is a whine from somewhere underneath us and some tyre noise but that’s about it.

The prototype rounds the right-hand, climbing, bumpy first corner without fuss and then drops into the bottom lane of a banked left. With so much of the car’s weight gathered low in the chassis it feels controlled and capable, without being truly communicative.

The inert and quite weighty electric-assist power steering doesn’t help and will have to be livened up if the production FCV – it will have another name – is to be as enjoyable to drive as Toyota promises.

Brake to a standstill on the next straight and the distinctive, wooden feel of the regenerative braking system is apparent.

Jump hard on the accelerator pedal and max torque (still undisclosed) leaps straight in from zero revs to propel the car up to 100km/h at a moderate pace – maybe nine seconds according to our rough timing.

It’s a seamless push forward, just as you would expect from an EV.

There’s another brake to a stop, another banked corner and then a slalom to test manoeuvrability. There’s no problem but no excitement here, the car predictably starting to lean on its outside front tyre as the speed progresses.

One more lap and we are done. A harder brake produces nothing other than a decent anti-lock braking tune, There has been nothing here to get worried or too excited about.

For a pre-production drivetrain there are precious few rough edges noticeable. Those that exist will be ironed out over the next couple of years before we see the production car.

Or then again, we don’t.

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