TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp on Saturday entered a racing car powered by liquid hydrogen into a 24-hour endurance race in Japan, making it the first such car in the world to participate in an officially sanctioned auto race.
The move is the latest attempt by the Japanese automaker to popularise hydrogen as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuel amid tightening environmental regulations worldwide since it does not emit carbon dioxide.
Toyota, the developer of the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle, Mirai, has said that offering a wide range of green vehicles, including hybrids, is more effective in cutting their carbon footprint than focusing only on electric vehicles.
The entry comes as the use of hydrogen gains popularity across industries. Four major motorcycle makers in Japan, including Kawasaki, said earlier this month that they would jointly develop hydrogen-powered engines with an eye to launching them on two-wheelers.
The Super Taikyu Fuji 24 Hours race is taking place through Sunday at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Cars with hydrogen powered engines will be allowed to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans — the world’s most famous endurance race — in 2026, said Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
“Both technologies — fuel cell and hydrogen internal combustion engine — will be accepted and authorised” in the hydrogen class at the same level as hyper-class category, Fillon told reporters at the Fuji speedway on Saturday.
Toyota president Koji Sato said he would make an announcement about ths company’s participation in Le Mans “in the near future”.
Toyota started to run a hydrogen engine car in a race in May 2021, using gaseous hydrogen. It initially aimed to enter a liquid hydrogen vehicle in a race in March, but the plan stalled after a vehicle caught fire during a test run.
By subjecting the liquid hydrogen car to endurance races, Toyota intends to improve the functionality of the nascent technology and address some of its challenges, including how to keep liquid hydrogen at an extremely low temperature.
Using hydrogen in liquid form instead of its gaseous state would double a car’s mileage and allow for smaller hydrogen fuelling stations, Toyota said. The automaker is aiming to commercialise hydrogen engine cars in the future.
