Fuel Cell vehicles: can be the future of the automotive industry?

Today, the growing concerns on air pollution and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels have awakened the interest in hydrogen as a "energy carrier" for vehicles, which until now was only used in restricted applications, for example in the space programs.

Will ever be possible to see on our roads vehicles powered by hydrogen?

The answer is coming from the Japan and precisely by Toyota. In fact, the Japanese automaker is launching Mirai, which in Japanese means "future", a new type of hydrogen vehicle. Mirai has an electric motor capable of providing 113 kW of power and it can reach a maximum speed of 180 km / h.

Toyota Mirai (left) and its interior (right)

Toyota will bet on a considerable autonomy (more than 480 km with full hydrogen) and a recharging speed greatly reduced (less than 5 minutes).

The "engine" that moves a hydrogen vehicle is the fuel cell and at the base of its operation there is an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the air, which provides the electron free. These electrons, in certain conditions, are able to circulate in an external circuit, producing an electrical current. Unlike batteries, the Fuel Cells are open systems, and are able to function until the fuel (hydrogen) and the reactant (oxygen) are provided.

In a very first future sales will be located in Japan and specifically in areas where there is a hydrogen refueling station (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuora), but Mirai will be the first model of hydrogen cars in the world, commercialized on a large scale. The Toyota group hopes to sell at least 400 units in Japan by the end of 2015 (200 already have been ordered!!), and then from 50 to 100 per year in Europe; in the US instead involves a sale of about 3,000 vehicles by 2017. The estimated cost in Europe is around EUR 66 000 plus taxes, and of course it is still very high.

Fuel Cell system (left) and Toyota Mirai layout (right)

The goal of Toyota is ambitious and far-sighted, as the words of Bob Carter Senior Vice President of Toyota Automotive reveal: "We're not reinventing the wheel, just everything you need to make it move. There is no doubt that the success of this technology depends more on the user experience and not on the individual vehicle. "

Toyota, is primarily aiming to change the conception of the car that today we all have. Mirai may also be used as a source of temporary energy, in fact, there will be an optional device that, when installed, will provide electricity to a dwelling in case of emergency. Thanks to the Fuel Cell technology, Mirai may exceed 3 times the power generated by a system of back-up batteries, and compared to a generator, would solve the problem of the exhaust gas. Even the car, ensures Uchiyamada (Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation), can be used as a buffer for houses with alternative energy sources, providing power when renewables (wind, solar etc.) are not able to do so.

Although hydrogen requires many security precautions, today seems to be the leading candidate as the future energy vector.

Power Take-Off, for grid-house connection

However, the Toyota project was born from the partnership of several universities, including the University of California. This fact proves that “the academic imprint” is always the starting point of technological and social revolutions, as can be considered a hydrogen vehicle.

The H₂politO Team, supported by the Polytechnic of Turin, has embraced this philosophy for about 7 years, in order to develop vehicles with low CO₂ emission. The Team purpose is to sensitize the new generation of engineers and users on issues as pollution and low consumption vehicles.

IDRApegasus is a hydrogen prototype designed, developed and built entirely by students for the Shell Eco-Marathon competition. In such events the winner is the vehicle that consumes less.

Although the shape and the technical solutions of IDRApegasus are different from Toyota Mirai FCV, the two projects have the same inspiration: dare to change.

The Team H₂politO and Toyota believe in this challenge; how about you?