Fuel-cell Highlander takes the high road

Many automakers believe fuel cells represent the long-term future for powering cars, as evidenced by the high number of fuel-cell vehicles in testing. Honda and General Motors even have models available for consumers to drive on a limited basis.

Now Toyota has announced that it will begin consumer testing of its latest-generation fuel-cell vehicle, the FCHV, based on the original Highlander.

We had a chance to drive the same Toyota FCHV advance fuel-cell vehicle around Portland, Ore., recently. It was one of the last fuel-cell cars from a major automaker that we hadn’t driven. Like other fuel-cell vehicles, we found the experience seamless—eerily quiet, quick, and responsive.

The latest version of the FCHV uses 10,000 psi hydrogen storage tanks that hold 6 kilograms of hydrogen. According to Toyota, that gives it a range of 432 miles at the equivalent of about 72 miles per gallon. It makes 122 horsepower, which doesn’t sound like much, but felt like plenty around town. Like other fuel-cell vehicles today, the FCHV also uses a battery to provide short bursts of added power. (Thus the Fuel-Cell Hybrid Vehicle moniker.) The FCHV uses nickel-metal hydride batteries.

It’s often been said that extreme temperature ranges are an engineering challenge for fuel-cell vehicles; Toyota claims this Highlander can be started at temperatures as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit.

Arguably, the biggest problem with fuel cell vehicles is where to get the hydrogen to refill them. That didn’t stop Toyota and Road & Track magazine from driving this particular fuel-cell vehicle down the Alaska Highway from Fairbanks to Vancouver, British Columbia. The key to the trip? A diesel-powered semi truck filled with hydrogen followed them all the way down. (For the record, those companies say the cost of the demonstration drive, including the semi truck and all the rest of the entourage was offset by purchasing carbon credits. Whatever.)

Just as we had seen at our own Future of the Car event, fuel-cell vehicles are maturing, and it is becoming easier envisioning them moving from high-tech novelty status to true consumer products.

—Eric Evarts

Comments

[Greg Blencoe]

Eric,

Your post says that:

"Now Toyota has announced that it will begin consumer testing of its latest-generation fuel-cell vehicle, the FCHV, based on the original Highlander."

Do you have any details about this? How many vehicles? Where? When? I haven't been able to find an announcement by Toyota that the FCHV will be tested by consumers (unless this is referring to the program where the Japanese government is leasing the FCHV)?

[Greg Blencoe]

Eric,

Since you mentioned the hydrogen fueling infrastructure issue in this post, I wanted to let you know about the idea of hydrogen fueling station cooperatives which are a way to build the hydrogen infrastructure without the oil companies or the federal government.

The idea is getting a tremendous amount of positive feedback. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Here are the details (this is a blog entry I recently posted - see link below):

"Hydrogen fueling station cooperatives: How to build the hydrogen fueling infrastructure without the oil companies or the federal government

With hydrogen cars making tremendous advancements, the focus has now turned to getting the hydrogen fueling infrastructure built. The truth is that the car companies are very frustrated that neither the oil companies nor the federal government has stepped up to build the hydrogen fueling infrastructure.

In order to break this logjam, I am proposing the following idea that would eliminate the need to depend on the oil companies or the federal government to get the hydrogen fueling infrastructure built.

The idea is to get 1000 people that live reasonably close to each other to agree to buy a hydrogen car and finance a hydrogen fueling station that will be built close to where they live. A figure that is often used for the cost of a hydrogen fueling station is $2 million. This would translate to $2000 per person.

Each person would pay the extra $2000 when they purchase a hydrogen car. And then they would own 1/1000th of the hydrogen fueling station which would be a cooperative.

The hydrogen fueling station could be run by members of the cooperative or the operation of the facility could be outsourced. Just like with gas stations today, this cost would be covered by money made from fuel and convenience store sales.

Once the hydrogen fueling station is up and running, the people who paid the $2000 and own part of it would get a “Member” fuel price. Any other people who buy hydrogen cars after them (and did not pay $2000 for the hydrogen fueling station) would have to pay a “Non-member” fuel price which might be something like $1 more per kilogram of hydrogen (e.g. $7 instead of $6).

Any profits from the hydrogen fueling station could be paid back to the 1000 owners every quarter or year in the form of dividend checks. And eventually the hydrogen fueling station could be sold and each person would receive 1/1000th of that amount. Therefore, each person would make back part or perhaps even all of the $2000 initial investment over time.

One of the amazing things is that this could pretty much be done anywhere there are 1000 people who live pretty close to each other who want to do this.

Furthermore, the idea is scalable. For example, it can work for one hydrogen fueling station in one part of Los Angeles. Or maybe 10,000 people would get together in a larger part of Los Angeles (e.g. the San Fernando Valley) and build ten hydrogen fueling stations and each person would get the “Member” fuel price at each location.

And down the road, maybe 100,000 people in Los Angeles or even a million in Southern California could get together and finance a solar-to-hydrogen production facility in the Mojave Desert and pipeline down to one or more locations in Southern California.

Hydrogen fueling station cooperatives could be done without any help from the oil companies or the federal government. They would be a true grassroots effort that could totally reshape the energy power structure."

http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/hydrogen-fueling-station-cooperatives-how-to-build-the-hydrogen-fueling-infrastructure-without-the-oil-companies-or-the-federal-government/

Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.

[Eric Evarts -- Consumer Reports]

Glen,

Toyota made two announcements, one was about leasing FCHVs to Japanese government fleets. The company also has four vehicles in use at two University of California campuses (Irvine and Berkeley). And they announced that they are looking to loan the cars there to individual consumers for several days or more to collect more data on actual use.

The hydrogen station cooperatives sound like a good idea if you can figure out how to pay for the production or purchasing of the hydrogen. I wish you success in your venture.

[Greg Blencoe]

Eric,

Thanks for the clarification on Toyota's testing of the FCHV.

And thanks for the kind words about the idea of hydrogen fueling station cooperatives.

I think the production or purchasing of hydrogen will be paid for by fuel sales to the people who have bought the hydrogen cars.

At the very beginning of the transition to the hydrogen economy, the hydrogen might be produced on-site from natural gas. In this scenario, the equipment to do this would likely be part of the cost of the fueling station that is paid for through the cooperative. Another option is for the fueling station to lease the equipment and then the company who leases the equipment would get paid back by including this cost in each kilogram of hydrogen that is sold.

For a bigger project (e.g. if 500,000 people in Southern California wanted to buy 500,000 hydrogen cars and finance 500 hydrogen fueling stations from San Diego to Los Angeles), the cooperative could even include a solar-to-hydrogen production facility in the Mojave Desert and a hydrogen pipeline to distribute the hydrogen close to fueling stations.

Another possibility is that the solar-to-hydrogen production facility and pipeline could be financed by another entity and they could make money off of each kilogram of hydrogen that is distributed to the 500 hydrogen fueling stations in Southern California.

Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.