A Toyota brand displayed on a automobile in Poland. The Japanese automotive big began engaged on the event of gas cell autos again in 1992.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Photos
LONDON — A consortium led by automotive big Toyota will obtain tens of millions in funding to develop a hydrogen gas cell pickup truck within the U.Okay.
In an announcement Friday, Toyota stated the gas cell-powered prototype of its Hilux pickup can be developed at its plant in Burnaston, within the East Midlands of England.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK is heading up the consortium, which is being backed by £5.7 million (round $7 million) of trade funding and £5.6 million from the U.Okay. authorities. Thatcham Analysis, D2H, ETL and Ricardo are additionally concerned within the challenge.
Though the initiative is being led by TMUK, Toyota stated “technical help” would come from Toyota Motor Europe R&D.
“Throughout the scope of the funding bid, preliminary prototype Hilux autos might be produced at Burnaston throughout 2023,” it added. “As soon as profitable efficiency outcomes have been secured, the intention is to organize the automobile for small sequence manufacturing.”
An aerial view of the Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Burnaston, England. The Japanese automotive big began engaged on the event of gas cell autos again in 1992.
David Goddard | Getty Photos Information | Getty Photos
The unique model of the Hilux dates again to the Sixties, and a number of other iterations of the automobile have been developed since. The U.Okay. authorities stated a gas cell Hilux can be “very best to be used in remoted settings the place electrical automobile charging is impractical.”
Friday’s information represents Toyota’s newest transfer within the sector. The agency began engaged on the event of fuel-cell autos again in 1992. In 2014, it launched the Mirai, a hydrogen gas cell sedan.
Alongside the Mirai, Toyota has had a hand within the improvement of bigger hydrogen gas cell autos. These embrace a bus known as the Sora and prototypes of professional quality vans. In addition to gas cells, Toyota is taking a look at using hydrogen in internal combustion engines.
Whereas the enterprise is thought for its hybrid and hydrogen gas cell autos, additionally it is trying to make strikes within the more and more aggressive battery-electric market, the place corporations like Tesla and Volkswagen are jostling for place.
This has not been with out its challenges and in June 2022, Toyota issued a safety recall for greater than 2,000 of its all-electric SUV, the bZ4X.
This picture, from 2013, exhibits a row of Toyota Hilux pickup vans at a facility in Portugal. The unique model of the Hilux dates again to the Sixties, and a number of other iterations of the automobile have been developed since.
Mario Proenca | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
The corporate may be looking to invest billions in EV battery production, but it surely has additionally careworn it “will proceed to make each effort to flexibly meet the wants” of shoppers “in all international locations and areas by providing a number of powertrains and offering as many choices as attainable.”
The U.Okay. needs to cease the sale of recent diesel and gasoline vehicles and vans by 2030. It would require, from 2035, all new vehicles and vans to have zero-tailpipe emissions. The European Union — which the U.Okay. left on Jan. 31, 2020 — is pursuing similar targets.
