Toyota seems to be making good on their claims of a fuel-cell powered future. Hot on the heels of their Mirai fuel cell vehicle launch, their subsidiary Hino Motors Limited has begun to use a fuel-cell powered bus in Toyota City. The bus serves as a proof of concept for wide-spread fuel-cell usage. If the technology can be made efficient enough for use in buses, there is no reason that it can be implemented world wide- especially since buses have designated fuelling stations and areas and routes so an infrastructure would be easier to develop.
The new Hino-Toyota Fuel Cell Bus is equipped with eight high-pressure hydrogen tanks, as well as two fuel cell stacks and two motors to provide the required power output. The fuel cell bus showcases some of the additional possibilities on offer with the technology, including a system for supplying electric power to buildings and other facilities during emergencies. Hydrogen fuelling of the bus is being carried out at Toyota Ecoful Town – an area of Toyota City which uses next generation, low carbon environmental technology on a daily basis. The bus began servicing the Toyota Oiden bus route in Toyota City earlier this month. The verification testing is being conducted with the cooperation of Toyota City as part of a public fuel cell bus road trial and emergency external power supply testing scheme, which is being promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Powered by two 149.5 PS motors with 335 Nm of starting torque, these fuel cell buses are the perfect candidate to test out hydrogen fuel on. With much of these buses polluting our cities with heavy smoke and smog, a fuel cell bus system could cut down on pollution by a noticeable amount.
