TOYOTA | Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Adopted for Hire Cars

TOYOTA FCHV-adv

Toyota's Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Becomes a Hire Car

Toyota announced that it will provide a fuel cell hybrid vehicle for the "FCV Hire Car Demonstration Project" to be conducted from January 29th, based at Narita International Airport.

By Dai Matsuo

A National Project

The Hydrogen Highway Project is part of the demonstration project for building a hydrogen utilization social system by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Hydrogen Supply and Utilization Technology Research Association, commonly known as HySUT, is the operator. Toyota's fuel cell hybrid vehicle, the Toyota FCHV-adv, which will be provided for the social experiment called the FCV Hire Car Demonstration, to be conducted by HySUT from January 29th based at Narita International Airport, is the vehicle in question. The name FCHV-adv is an abbreviation for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – advanced, and it is an evolved version of the FCHV, a fuel cell hybrid vehicle that was released in limited quantities in Japan and the United States in 2002, and was active at events such as the 2008 G8 Summit in Toyako.

Toyota has previously provided its fuel cell hybrid bus, the FCHV-BUS, for the commercial operation of fuel cell buses between central Tokyo and Haneda Airport, which began last December as part of the Hydrogen Highway Project. This time, the FCHV-adv, a fuel cell hybrid vehicle, will be loaned to HySUT.

Airport Transfers

The vehicles will be operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) as part of their "Europe/North America Route Welcome Home Hire Car Service" and "Early Morning Pick-up Plan" for international passengers, based at Narita Airport. The "Europe/North America Route Welcome Home Hire Car Service" is a service where ANA covers the cost of hire car transportation to a designated area for First Class/Business Class passengers on European and North American routes. The "Early Morning Pick-up Plan" is a service where ANA covers the cost of hire car transportation from the passenger's home in a designated area to Narita Airport for Business Class passengers on the Narita-Jakarta route (NH937). Eligible passengers may have the opportunity to ride in this fuel cell hybrid vehicle.

Toyota aims to promote the widespread adoption of fuel cell vehicles by verifying data obtained from various usage scenarios, including driving on expressways, and advancing research and development. They are also actively collaborating with relevant organizations such as government agencies and the energy industry.

Toyota states that the FCHV-adv can start and run even in sub-zero temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius (the conventional model was not designed for temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius), thus expanding the range of usable regions, including cold climates. Furthermore, the cruising range on a single hydrogen fill is announced to be approximately 830 km (based on the 10-15 mode driving cycle; Toyota's internal measurement).