JANUARY 2008
TOYOTA FUEL CELL HYBRID VEHICLE LOGS WELL ABOVE 300 MILES PER TANK ON 2300-MILE ROAD TRIP
Toyota's hydrogen-hybrid fuel-cell development program made a landmark trip from Alaska to Vancouver, making huge strides in the extended driving and operation of a hybrid fuel-cell system. See how the trip went and what made it possible.
A significant achievement in the ongoing hydrogen-hybrid fuel-cell development program was revealed at a press conference during the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show. A recent 2300-mile trek in a Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV) from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Vancouver, British Columbia, along the Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) highway confirmed substantial progress in reliability and durability, cold-weather operation and extended range capability of Toyota's hybrid fuel-cell system.
"When our Torrance-based product planners and engineers heard about Toyota Motor Corporation's (TMC) plan to run a distance of 348 miles from Osaka, Japan, to Tokyo on a single tank of hydrogen, they thought it was a great idea ... that probably didn't go far enough in showing how far this new system had advanced," said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager.
"Beyond the single-tank range capability, this new system was developed to deal with two major challenges to the refinement of fuel-cell powertrains. That is, starting and operating in cold temperatures and standing up to the vibration and harshness of rough road conditions ... over a long distance ... over a long time."
"Equally important was to show how the development of Toyota's hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains continue to move forward and mature at an impressive pace, far in advance of an infrastructure that will be necessary to support them."
To add a sense of risk and adventure, Toyota engineers planned to accomplish the feat with no practice runs and no pre-trip evaluations. Just get in the Highlander FCHV and drive. If they made it to Vancouver, great; if not, it would be chalked up to research and development.
Vehicle preparation consisted of adding tubular guards for the grille, rockers and rear end, a roof rack and a few appropriate graphics to mark the occasion. Every mile of the journey was monitored in real time by a dedicated laptop program that measured distance, time, speed, and hydrogen tank temperature and fuel consumption. The entire trip was shot in high-definition video. And to verify and chronicle the achievement, Road & Track magazine engineering editor Dennis Simanaitis was invited to come along as referee and co-driver. One of the key reasons why engineers chose the route from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Vancouver is that Canada allows mobile refueling of high-pressure hydrogen vehicles along its public highways. Without a network of hydrogen fueling stations every 300 miles, mobile refueling was a necessity.
Two companies were enlisted to assist with mobile refueling. Linde, a German company based in the U.S., provided the rolling supply of hydrogen, while Canadian-based Powertech Labs supplied a self-contained refueling station. Mounted on two separate flatbed trucks, the refueling team moved in advance of the Highlander FCHV, setting up shop at predetermined intervals. A RAV4 camera vehicle stalked the FCHV from start to finish, while a pair of Toyota Tundra pickup trucks followed as support should anything major go wrong. Nothing did.
The first leg of the drive was the most suspenseful. The caravan needed to travel more than 316 miles from Fairbanks to Beaver Creek across the Canadian border in order to legally refuel. Not only did the vehicle make it, the onboard monitoring system confirmed that the vehicle could have covered nearly 400 miles.
On the second and third days the group covered the most remote sections of the Yukon Territory. Whether sharing the road with an unimpressed group of buffalo or sailing along a vast open stretch of tundra at 90 miles an hour, the Highlander FCHV performed without a glitch for seven days and 2300 miles.
Toyota's comprehensive advanced vehicle development program continues to move forward with various promising technologies. Toyota recently delivered the first two Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles to the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Irvine. The universities will conduct both technical and market research on these vehicles in real-world conditions, thus playing a major role in the eventual market preparedness of this emerging technology.
The new Highlander Hybrid will join the Camry Hybrid and Prius to account for more than 275,000 total hybrid sales for the 2008 calendar year.
"Fuel cells and plug-in hybrids, pure electrics and lithium-ion batteries and much more will all be part of a future that will require more than just building and selling cars and trucks," said Carter. "It will require a whole new way of doing business."
Over the next few months Toyota will have much more to say about the exciting new future of the auto business.
Concept vehicle(s) shown.
