Photo/Illutration A hydrogen-powered fuel-cell garbage truck, developed by companies including Toyota Motor Corp., is seen in Hita, Oita Prefecture, on July 29. (Chihaya Inagaki)

Toyota Motor Corp. has developed a succession of fuel-cell (FC) commercial vehicle models including delivery and garbage trucks powered by hydrogen.

“We hope to work hard to realize a hydrogen society by having more of our (FC) vehicles operational under business-to-government arrangements,” said Toyota Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima.

Nine years have passed since the automaker released the Mirai sedan, the world’s first fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) model to go on the market.

The auto giant is now focusing its FCV development efforts on commercial vehicles in the belief they will provide more opportunities than passenger cars to draw on the advantages of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

An FC garbage truck, jointly developed by Toyota and ShinMaywa Industries Ltd., was unveiled at the Autopolis circuit racecourse in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in July.

One garbage truck of the same model is also scheduled for a trial operation in Fukuoka later this fiscal year, Toyota officials said.

FCVs run using electric power generated by chemical reactions between fuel hydrogen and oxygen in the air, and they only emit water while running. They are also known as “the ultimate eco-cars.”

An FC garbage truck has the advantage of being quiet, unlike conventional garbage trucks typically powered by a diesel engine. That feature is ideally suited for Fukuoka, where garbage is collected during the night, the officials explained.

One Toyota official said the automaker has received inquiries from other local governments as well and is “thinking of having several garbage trucks like the model operational by the end of this fiscal year.”

There are also plans to have such garbage trucks introduced in Tokyo in 2024 and later.

Toyota has also worked with major truck makers Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Hino Motors Ltd., the latter being a Toyota group company, to jointly develop a model of a “light-duty FC electric truck.”

Starting in January, such trucks have been put into use, in stages, to deliver goods to convenience stores and supermarkets in Fukushima Prefecture and Tokyo. There are plans to have 250 or so of them operational, the officials said.

Toyota has also worked with Hino to develop a model of heavy-duty FC electric trucks, which have been put into trial use, in stages, by companies including Yamato Transport Co. since May.

The Toyota officials added the automaker is also developing FC school lunch delivery trucks and FC ambulances.

FCVs can have longer cruising ranges than electric vehicles, and it takes less time to refuel an FCV with hydrogen than to charge an electric vehicle.

Toyota, which sees hydrogen as a viable energy source of the future, became the world’s first automaker in 2014 to put an FCV model, the Mirai, on the market.

A total of only about 25,000 Mirai vehicles, however, had been sold by the end of September, with barriers such as a dearth of hydrogen refueling stations and the cost of hydrogen being major concerns.

Commercial vehicles, by contrast, typically only travel along fixed routes, so they can smoothly operate even if only a minimum necessary number of hydrogen stations are available at their destinations and their points of departure.

The Toyota officials said they hope a spread of commercial FCVs, which can travel long distances and use large volumes of hydrogen, will help reduce the cost of hydrogen.

Toyota on Nov. 13 also released an FCV version of its flagship Crown sedan model.

The officials said the automaker has been asking parties including the central and local governments to adopt such cars as their official vehicles. More FCVs among the fleets of official vehicles could prompt more hydrogen stations to be built in convenient city-center locations.

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