Toyota Announces Progress of Efforts in the Super Taikyu SeriesENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2022 Powered by Hankook Round 2 NAPAC Fuji SUPER TEC 24 Hours Race

Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture (FH2R), Obayashi Corporation, Toyota Motor Kyushu Corporation, HySTRA - joint venture comprising Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Iwatani Corporation and Power Development Corporation -, Fukuoka City, and Yamanashi Prefecture each produced hydrogen, which was used in the hydrogen-powered Corolla racing car as fuel.

Toyota Transport Corporation's biofuel trucks and Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation's (CJPT) FC light-duty trucks transported hydrogen to the circuit. In addition, lignite-derived hydrogen produced in Australia by Kawasaki Heavy Industries was transported by air on a trial basis and used as fuel for the hydrogen-powered Corolla with the support from Iwatani Corporation and J-Power Development Corporation.

In addition to hydrogen, Toyota's ORC ROOKIE GR86 CNF Concept, which uses carbon neutral fuel, Subaru's Team SDA Engineering BRZ CNF Concept, and Mazda's MAZDA SPIRIT RACING Bio concept DEMIO, which runs on next-generation biodiesel fuel, will also be racing. The number of fuel options and like-minded partners who "use" bio-diesel fuel is also expanding.

Companies and municipalities that produce, transport, and use hydrogen and carbon-neutral fuels, which were connected through the Super Taikyu Series, are further accelerating their efforts to realize a carbon neutral society even outside the race. Many actions of our supporters are stemming from the Super Taikyu Series and expanding further.

The KOBELCO Group has developed and commercialized "Kobenable Steel", a low-CO2 blast furnace steel product that significantly reduces CO2 emissions in the blast furnace process. Kobenable Steel" uses reduced iron (steel raw materials made from reduced iron ore) produced by the reduced ironmaking process using natural gas. By charging a large amount of this material into the blast furnace, the technology can significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the blast furnace. There are two types of products, "Kobenable Premier" and "Kobenable Half." "Kobenable Premier", with a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions per metric ton, is used in the suspension member of the hydrogen-powered Corolla.

A "hydrogen-fired generator" imported from Europe by Japan Hydro will be used at the Toyota Motor Corporation booth in the event space at Fuji Speedway to supply electricity. This generator is capable of supplying power for approximately 30 MIRAI vehicles and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1 metric ton per day compared to a typical diesel generator.

In addition, a prototype of a portable hydrogen cartridge developed by Toyota and Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. that can easily carry hydrogen and use hydrogen energy for a wide range of applications in daily life will be exhibited in the event space of the Fuji 24 Hours Race. The portable size of the cartridge makes it possible to carry hydrogen in the sphere of daily life.

Toyota, Fuji Speedway Co., Ltd. and Toyota Real Estate Corporation are promoting the "Fuji Motorsports Forest" project in Oyama-town, Shizuoka Prefecture. We aim to create a place many people want to visit and will use it as a starting point to develop motorsports culture not only in Japan but also in Asia.

In addition, the Super Taikyu Series has led to a global expansion of motorsports fan communities, and five partner companies^*3 that operate businesses related to Toyota, Lexus, and Hino Motors, Ltd. and have a desire to develop motorsports in Asia will join ROOKIE Racing as sponsors from the 2022 season. By having these Asian partner companies join, we aim to have our motorsports-driven making "ever-better cars" initiatives widely known not only in Japan but also in Asia.

The ORC ROOKIE GR86 CNF Concept will compete with the SUBARU Team SDA Engineering BRZ CNF Concept, which also competes in the ST-Q class, and trains on the motorsports field to discover and improve issues with carbon neutral fuel and explore the possibility of its practical application in the future. The team is also working on a new fuel that will be used in the Fuji 24 Hours Race.

For the race, we are working on improvements to solve the problem of fuel diluting into oil. By controlling the injection method, we have achieved a significant improvement in the continuous running time.

The challenges are at the initial stage and the problems are yet to be clarified, but we will continue to work together with SUBARU and Mazda, which are competing with next-generation biodiesel fuel, in competition and cooperation to expand the options for "usage" of fuel.

Toyota will continue to train and accelerate the development of vehicles in the severe environment of motorsports with many like-minded supporters. We will also promote a wide range of cooperation beyond industry boundaries to realize a better carbon neutral society and further expand the options for producing, transporting, and using hydrogen and carbon neutral fuels.