Automotive

Toyota takes its hydrogen-burning race engine to the street

Toyota takes its hydrogen-burning race engine to the street
Toyota is evaluating a hydrogen combustion Corolla prototype for street use
Toyota is evaluating a hydrogen combustion Corolla prototype for street use
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Toyota is evaluating a hydrogen combustion Corolla prototype for street use
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Toyota is evaluating a hydrogen combustion Corolla prototype for street use
The chief emission, as with a fuel cell vehicle, will be water. But burning hydrogen in air does also produce nitrous oxide emissions that will need to be controlled
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The chief emission, as with a fuel cell vehicle, will be water. But burning hydrogen in air does also produce nitrous oxide emissions that will need to be controlled
The 1.6-liter, 3-cylinder turbo engine from the GR Corolla is modified with hydrogen injection developed in the race team and fuel tank technology taken from the Mirai
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The 1.6-liter, 3-cylinder turbo engine from the GR Corolla is modified with hydrogen injection developed in the race team and fuel tank technology taken from the Mirai
Toyota isn't committing to taking a hydrogen-combustion street car through to combustion at this stage, but sees a "clear opportunity" in racing
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Toyota isn't committing to taking a hydrogen-combustion street car through to combustion at this stage, but sees a "clear opportunity" in racing
Toyota has already entered a hydrogen-burning car in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race, the Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis, and the SUZUKA S-TAI, and is working to expand these efforts
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Toyota has already entered a hydrogen-burning car in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race, the Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis, and the SUZUKA S-TAI, and is working to expand these efforts
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Toyota is keeping its bases covered moving into the zero-emissions era, and alongside battery EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell electrics, it's now announced a road-going hydrogen combustion concept for folk that want to go green without losing the sound and feel of a piston engine.

Battery-electric cars offer extreme performance levels that precious few combustion cars can compete with, but for motorsport fans and revheads who have grown up loving gasoline, the experience of driving EVs can feel a little clinical and emotionless. There's none of the fun of working a gearbox, matching revs to keep yourself in the guts of the power curve, or even just the angry sound of a high-performance engine getting thrashed; there's just a go pedal, a stop pedal, an electric-drill whine and an awful lot of velocity to deal with.

Clearly, zero carbon emissions will be a non-negotiable feature in the coming years. But that doesn't mean there's no room for noisy, mechanical internal combustion engines; green hydrogen burns perfectly well without creating carbon dioxide, and parts of the motorsport world are already committing to hydrogen combustion as a way to deliver long-range, high-performance driving, complete with the fun of noisy exhausts, in a more sustainable way.

The 1.6-liter, 3-cylinder turbo engine from the GR Corolla is modified with hydrogen injection developed in the race team and fuel tank technology taken from the Mirai
The 1.6-liter, 3-cylinder turbo engine from the GR Corolla is modified with hydrogen injection developed in the race team and fuel tank technology taken from the Mirai

Mind you, hydrogen combustion isn't entirely free from harmful emissions. Yes, the chief by-product when you burn hydrogen is pure water, but any high-temperature process that burns air will create nitrous oxide emissions. These might not be greenhouse gases, but they do contribute to toxic smog, acid rain and other immediate health hazards, so hydrogen combustion vehicles will need to run some sort of emissions reduction technology.

Toyota (along with Hyundai) has long flown the flag for hydrogen vehicles; Japan and Korea have committed to the idea of a green hydrogen economy as part of their decarbonization plans, and with many sources reporting that the manufacturing sector is staring down the barrel of a serious squeeze on lithium, cobalt, nickel and other battery metals, a diversity of approaches could definitely prove a strength. Brave owners of hydrogen-powered Mirai and Nexo fuel cell cars currently need to deal with an extreme shortage of refueling options, but this is expected to improve considerably by the end of the decade.

Toyota has already begun racing a hydrogen-burning Corolla – with company President Akio Toyoda at the wheel, no less. It raced this year's 2022 Fuji Super TEC 24 hours in June, and completed 478 laps. It finished last, but the team lost two hours of track time fixing the car up after a crash, and while it was out there it was running competitive lap times.

Toyota has already entered a hydrogen-burning car in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race, the Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis, and the SUZUKA S-TAI, and is working to expand these efforts
Toyota has already entered a hydrogen-burning car in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race, the Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis, and the SUZUKA S-TAI, and is working to expand these efforts

Now, the company has announced a Corolla Cross H2 concept based around developments made in the race team. It'll use the same 1.6-liter 3-cylinder turbo engine as the GR Corolla, augmented with high-pressure direct hydrogen injection tested in the race car and a fuel tank package adapted from the Mirai. It seats five with room for luggage.

It's already on the street for testing and evaluation, and the team is hoping to put plenty more miles on it through the (Northern Hemisphere) winter to learn more about its low-temperature suitability. Toyota says this machine is "around 40% along the path to commercialization," but it's not committing to taking a hydrogen-burning street car through to production at this stage.

Source: Toyota

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5 comments
5 comments
EUbrainwashing
And you will not be sitting on top of an EM radiating transmitter
John_D
Why would you want to use hydrogen in an internal combustion engine? Just for the sound and experience? The ICE is at the end of its development and will not perform much better in terms of fuel to power conversion in the future. Invest in new, better technology such as fuel cells with supercapacitors and let the ICE become history.
DaveWesely
This:
"the fun of working a gearbox, matching revs to keep yourself in the guts of the power curve, or even just the angry sound of a high-performance engine getting thrashed"
is the reason ICE are garbage. Not only do you have to deal with all those issues, they are SLOW compared to electric.
And putting hydrogen in an ICE? Nothing like paying 4x more for fuel only to throw 3/4 of it away in terms of efficiency.
michael_dowling
𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧_𝐃 : H2 combustion not make sense,if only because you create NOx emissions. H2 powering fuel cells also tops out at about 40--60 % efficient. EVs are at least 90% efficient.
Alex Read
If Toyota keeps wasting time, money and engineering effort on pointless technology, they won't make it much past the end of the decade.