The next generation of alternative fuels, called carbon neutral, was the center of attention on and off the track over the weekend during a race in Shizuoka, Japan.
Fuji International Speedway hosted the latest installment of the Super Taikyu Series, a 24-hour endurance race featuring dozens of cars in various divisions separated by engine size and speed. In the experimental class, Toyota Motor Corp. introduced the world’s first liquid hydrogen racing car.
The Corolla H2 Concept was due to debut in March, but was postponed after a hydrogen leak in the engine compartment caused a fire. On Sunday, 24 hours after Toyota president Akio Toyoda climbed into the driver’s seat surrounded by excited fans and curious reporters, he crossed the finish line.
Toyota officials said the car had no problems, but there is still much to learn about hydrogen.
“Battery electric vehicles are of course an important tool in our efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions,” Toyota CEO Koji Sato told reporters on Saturday. “But hydrogen is an option we cannot afford to ignore.”
Tesla Inc. by Elon Musk and BYD Co. of China remain leaders in the rapidly expanding global electric vehicle market.
In April, Toyota pledged to sell 1.5 million battery electric vehicles by 2026. The world’s largest automaker has long argued that the transition to all-electric vehicles will take more than that people expect and emissions can be reduced faster while Frontal approach that includes battery-powered cars, hybrid engines, gasoline engines and alternative sources such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels.
The H2 was originally built to run on hydrogen gas. Although the engine has not been changed, its fuel supply system was adapted to liquid hydrogen, which saves space and time because it does not need so much bulky equipment for compression.
However, hydrogen has its drawbacks. Even in liquid form, it should be stored at minus 250C (minus 418F). It is expensive, difficult to obtain and only as sustainable as the electricity used to produce it.
The liquid hydrogen used to power the H2 over the weekend, known as “blue” hydrogen, was produced from fossil fuels and shipped from Australia. Critics say hydrogen is far from carbon neutral if it’s made from fossil fuels, and billing it as such is greenwashing.
But for better or worse, the fuel is gaining traction fast.
On Saturday, the president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, Pierre Fillon, announced that from 2026 hydrogen will be allowed in the top division of Le Mans, the world’s most famous endurance race.
“Both technologies, fuel cell and hydrogen internal combustion engine, will be accepted and authorized,” he told reporters in Shizuoka.
The news came less than a week after Honda Motor Co. announced its surprise return to Formula 1. The Japanese carmaker said it aims to step up efforts to decarbonise F1 by 2030 and use motorsport as a testing ground for efforts to reduce emissions from commercial vehicles.
As the race entered its final hours on Sunday, Toyota demonstrated the first synthetic fuels produced in the country. Produced from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, as opposed to fossil fuels, officials said “e-fuels” will become increasingly affordable and accessible, allowing drivers to keep their gas cars even as the global industry of the automobile is in a hurry to electrify.
Eneos Holdings Inc. aims to start selling imported synthetic fuels in 2027, but domestic production likely won’t begin until 2030, Chief Executive Takeshi Sato said on Sunday.
It still takes a day to produce a barrel of e-fuel, the oil company said. By 2050, when everyone, not just the auto industry, must be carbon neutral, Eneos wants to produce thousands of barrels a day.
The rally was attended by Toyota’s CEO, as well as a number of elected officials, including Japan’s Vice Trade Minister Fusae Ota, who pledged support for the development of alternative fuels through the Green Innovation Fund of the government as a key element in its controversial GX Green Transformation Policy. .
The commerce ministry, which previously said it would aim to commercialize synthetic fuels by 2040, announced plans on Monday to advance that target to the first half of the 2030s.
