To think of off-road cars is to think of large-capacity diesel engines condemned to the gloomiest of automotive hells; though not if Toyota, the world’s biggest hybrid maker, can help it. And it is that the Japanese firm has already demonstrated its clear intentions to save diesel by means of synthetic fuel, but now it wants to go further by presenting the hydrogen Toyota Hilux, livelihood they already work with.
The fuel cell is not something new for Toyota, since vehicles like the Mirai make use of this system, although in exchange for a high outlay and a supply infrastructure that is still very poor in Spain. However, its viability is palpable, and it is not unreasonable that in the not too distant future more emphasis will be placed on hydrogen.
The Toyota Hilux that wants to be a pick-up with zero emissions through hydrogen, but does it make sense?
And this is how Toyota shows us with the hydrogen Hilux, a project that takes shape at the hands of thea grant provided by the UK Advanced Propulsion Center (APC). And it is that the Japanese house requested last year this in search of continuing to advance in the design of clean vehicles and committed to caring for the environment.
With the APC supporting Toyota in the creation of a fuel cell pick-up, the brand has launched the process of forming its British division. This will be possible through an R&D team from Toyota Europe that will go specifically to the English center to apply the necessary and key instruction in the construction of the fuel cell Hilux.
Now, will it really be viable? It is early to draw well-founded and rigorous conclusions, since everything depends on two great points: how a car with 4×4 systems, such as a reduction gear or differential lock, will act with hydrogen flowing through its “veins” and how the presence of refueling points will advance so that they make more sense than an electric SUV.
And it is that currently the hydrogen car has the same drawbacks as the electric car: they are expensive and there are very few points -even less than electric stations- to be able to supply a car with a fuel cell. As long as the situation remains the same, the hydrogen car will not be viableor at least not on a large scale regardless of the segment in which it is applied.
But in part for that, these projects exist that can be considered “trial and error”, in addition to overcoming these two obstacles mentioned for hydrogen, we are talking about a more useful livelihood than electricity outside the urban environment. After all, if we run out of battery with an electric SUV in the middle of the field, the situation is going to become very complicated; but if that happens with a hydrogen car with the right context the scenario changes.
And it is that if the network of hydrogen pumps is extended and the acquisition of these vehicles becomes cheaper, we find not only a good way to save SUVs and pick-ups from total -and at the moment quite useless in the field- electrification , but also to any other car. This is because one of the main advantages of hydrogen vehicles is that your supply can be resolved in a matter of minutes.