Toyota, Honda Lease First Fuel Cell Vehicles

IRVINE, CA — Turning over the keys for two production fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs) to the chancellors of two universities here represents the launch of the hydrogen era for automobiles, says Jim Press, chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

On the same day, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. leases a production FCHV to the city of Los Angeles. In Japan, Honda and Toyota lease additional FCHVs to government agencies.

All of the FCHVs involved have Zero Emissions Vehicle certification from the California Air Resources Board.

“It's like watching the first flight at Kitty Hawk,” Press says as he hands the FCHVs' keys to the chancellors of the Universities of California at Irvine and Davis.

Both schools are leasing Toyota's FCHVs for $10,000 per month for 30 months.

The Toyota FCHV is a Highlander SUV, whose internal combustion (IC) engine has been replaced with a 90-kW polymer electric fuel cell stack and the hybrid-electric drivetrain of the Prius sedan.

The Highlander FCHV has a top speed of 96 mph (155 km/h) and a range of 180 miles (290 km). Fuel economy is the gasoline equivalent of 64 mpg (3.7L/100 km).

Four tanks on the FCHV store gaseous hydrogen at 5,000 psi (345 bar). The hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the Toyota fuel cell to create electricity that powers a 109-hp electric motor; excess electricity can be stored by the battery pack. The only emission from this process is water vapor that's released through the tailpipe.

Within six months, there will be six hydrogen-fueling stations to support programs at the two universities. Overall efficiency of the FCHV is twice that of a gasoline vehicle, says Norihiko Nakamura, chief of Toyota's fuel cell development program.

Toyota will lease two additional FCHVs to each of the universities next year. The universities will use government and industry grants to pay for the leases.

Meanwhile, Honda President Hiroyuki Yoshino turned over several of what Honda dubs fuel cell experimental vehicles (FCX) to Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn.

The auto maker also is leasing an FCX to a Japanese government agency for $6,500 per month. However, it is charging Los Angeles a nominal $500 per month for the lease, and that includes the hydrogen fuel.

Honda's FCX uses a Ballard Power Systems-made proton exchange membrane 78-kW fuel cell stack to power an 80-hp electric motor.

Maximum speed of the FCX is 93 mph (150 km/h), with a range of 170 miles (274 km). The FCX is based on Honda's EV Plus electric vehicle.

Although these are the first “production” fuel cell vehicles, Honda and Toyota say it will be more than a decade before such vehicles are offered to the public.