Toyota Develops New Fuel Cell Components

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that, as part of its efforts toward the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles, it has made quantum improvements in key fuel cell system components, namely in the fuel stack, methanol reformer, air compressor, and hydrogen-absorbing alloy tank.

Beginning with the new fuel cell stack, which boasts a three-fold increase in output, all of these components outclass their predecessors in terms of capacity and, at the same time, have been made more compact and lighter.

Fuel cell-powered vehicles are often viewed as electric vehicles that produce electricity on-board to power an electric motor. But they can also be considered as advanced hybrid vehicles with two power sources―the fuel cell and the batteries―that supply energy to the motor to drive the vehicle. Toyota emphasizes this dual-source perspective by using the term "fuel cell hybrid vehicle" (FCHV), and seeks optimum vehicle power-source efficiency by utilizing both fuel cells and batteries.

Through its development work on the Prius and other hybrid vehicles, Toyota has obtained considerable expertise in electronically controlled powertrains that operate with high voltages and large amounts of electric current. This has been accompanied by large strides in the control of the charging/discharging of batteries. The Toyota Hybrid System is highly adept at charging the batteries with energy derived from the efficient running of the engine.

Fuel cell vehicles require a fast and stable supply of large volumes of power when starting up, driving uphill, or accelerating. To meet such needs, Toyota is incorporating many of the advances it has made in hybrid powertrain electronics with the Prius into its Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle.

Using these advances, Toyota's FCHV performs continuous, precise control of the power volume generated, and regenerates power during braking.

This highly efficient technology delivers large volumes of power to a secondary fuel cell for storage, and holds great promise for early commercialization.

In October 1996, TMC announced the development of an FCHV that uses hydrogen stored in a hydrogen-absorbing alloy. In October 1997, it unveiled the world's first FCHV to use a methanol reformer for extracting hydrogen. Today, this development program has shifted from the research phase to the product development phase, with swift progress being made in both the hardware―the components of the FCHV itself―and the software, which manages the high voltages and large currents described earlier.

A crucial aspect of the development of fuel cell vehicles is the selection of an appropriate fuel. In addition to the use of pure hydrogen, TMC is developing methods of obtaining hydrogen from methanol, natural gas, gasoline, and other potential fuels. Each of these options is being studied closely, so that TMC can reach a comprehensive decision based on the technical possibilities, future supply prospects, and the possibilities for infrastructure development.

In the future, fuel cell vehicles are expected to take a key position among automobiles, and the selection of fuels to run them is closely related to a nation's energy policy. While anticipating needs in the 21st century, therefore, Toyota plans to take an overall view in making a decision to select a fuel or fuels optimum for such fuel cell vehicles through cooperation with related government offices and industrial sectors, as well as a variety of research institutes and other organizations.