Toyota’s recently-announced development of a new hydrogen fuel cell for passenger and commercial autos opens a fresh set of questions about how that sustainable vehicle technology will advance amid a new presidential administration that generally opposes subsidies for renewable energy.
In a Feb. 14 press release, Toyota claimed its new, third-generation fuel cell will improve durability by a factor of up to two times that of the second generation, providing endurance similar to diesel engines. The new cell also improves fuel efficiency by 20% compared with the second generation, allowing for 20% greater cruising range, according to Toyota.
The new fuel cell is designed to be installed in passenger and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, as well as other general purpose uses, such as trains, ships and stationary generators, Toyota spokesperson Jacob Brown wrote in an email to Autobody News. The system provides “improved performance, more compactness, and reduced costs compared to the current generation,” he added.
The new fuel cell will launch in 2026 at the earliest, in markets “mainly” in Japan, China, Europe and North America, Brown wrote.
However, the new technology will inevitably have to reckon with the policies of a Trump administration that has ordered the elimination of the “electric vehicle (EV) mandate,” including state emissions waivers and subsidies that have generally advanced battery-electric vehicles.
Considerations for Collision Repair
The degree of the hydrogen-fueled vehicles’ future market expansion will influence the collision repair industry, especially shops that want to add hydrogen-powered vehicles to their repair portfolio.
California Hydrogen Business Council (CHBC) President and CEO Katrina Fritz told Autobody News she recently visited a maintenance facility for the Oakland-based public transportation agency AC Transit.
In addition to a vertical ventilation system, the garage in Alameda County has a catwalk for technicians to reach the roof of buses undergoing maintenance, because hydrogen fuel cells and associated batteries sit on top of the buses, she said.
“There's not the engine compartment like there traditionally is in the front or the back of the vehicle,” Fritz said. “They require training … in a new fuel, and in a new layout of the system. How do you safely handle the hydrogen? You have to ground it before you use the refueling. So there's a different way of doing it. But the same [general repair] principles apply.”
Grounding refers to the process of providing a path for unwanted positive or negative charges to flow into the electrically neutral earth.
As for Toyota’s third-generation fuel cell system, “the diagnostic and other tech-based tools that technicians will need to work on the [vehicles] will come in conjunction with the rollout of that product to the various markets,” Brown wrote in his email. “We don't have anything further to share on that at this time.”
Repair shop layouts -- particularly venting systems -- will have to account for the unique characteristics of hydrogen fuel as opposed to petroleum-based fuel, Fritz noted. “You have to different ventilation in the ceiling,” Fritz said.
Hydrogen flares upward, unlike internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, which burn horizontally, she noted. Because of this, facilities that repair hydrogen-powered vehicles “have these higher roofs, and they have ventilation systems,” Fritz said.
Toyota says its third-generation hydrogen fuel cell will be up to twice as durable as the second generation.
Federal investments could ultimately spur the creation of certification programs for vehicle technicians who want to specialize in hydrogen vehicles, she said.
Fritz pointed out that more than a dozen states have received federal funding for low-emission, hydrogen-powered buses through a handful of grants provided to regional “hubs,” spanning areas like the Pacific Northwest, Appalachia, the Midwest, the Heartland and the Mid-Atlantic.
Fritz said labor unions generally support jobs created by these grants, because the funding supports the transition of local workforces into the decarbonized fuel industry.
“The idea is to form these hubs to really spur the economies of scale,” Fritz said. “Ultimately, that's to build out and connect the regions across the U.S.”
Staking a Claim and Competition
Toyota said in its press release it will continue to collaborate with local governments and other companies, associations and organizations toward “the realization of a hydrogen society.”
Toyota is just one player in the renewable industry staking its claim for how sustainable vehicle development should evolve in the years ahead amid an uncertain political environment.
The Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) challenged the development of Toyota’s new fuel cell, arguing that it detracts from battery electric vehicle development.
“We consider fuel cell a diversion from the electrification of transportation,” EVA spokesperson John Higham wrote in an email to Autobody News. “Further, we think that Toyota should be embarrassed about dragging out the fuel cell's inevitable demise for so long.”
Toyota did not respond to a request for comment on EVA’s quote.
Battery electric vehicle infrastructure is currently in place for passenger vehicles, making it more practical today for basic consumers than hydrogen-powered cars, according to Ashley Lynn Qua, policy lead for EVA’s New Jersey affiliate.
“We already have that infrastructure built into people's homes, multi-unit dwellings, workplaces and everything else,” she said in an interview. “You don't have to go out and build a hydrogen station for those folks because the fueling infrastructure is already in their houses.”
Asked whether Toyota’s announced rollout of hydrogen-powered passenger cars is feasible by 2026, Lynn Qua pointed to the significant investments in hydrogen-fueling infrastructure that would be required.
“Does Toyota actually want to spend the money to put in the depots?” she said. “Are they going to be the next Tesla of the hydrogen industry trying to build out their own infrastructure network? … If the hydrogen industry is going to learn anything from the [EV] industry, you can't carry an entire industry as a solo brand on your back. It doesn't work.”
Last spring, Tesla laid off hundreds of employees on its charging team and announced it would roll out new charging stations at a slower rate than previously anticipated. News reports did not identify a direct cause of the mass layoffs, though a Bloomberg analysis found that only about 1.5% of the company’s total revenue came from charging stations.
Private Industry Collaboration and Subsidy Support
Partnerships across companies are required to support any long-term, wide-scale, clean-energy infrastructure investment, Lynn Qua noted.
BMW and Toyota released a joint announcement in September stating they are collaborating on developing the powertrain for a batch of hydrogen-fueled vehicles, with BMW planning to launch its first hydrogen-powered production model in 2028.
Fritz also pointed to several technology and transportation companies that are investing in hydrogen infrastructure.
For instance, firms like Pilot and Trillium Energy, a subsidiary of Love’s Family of Companies, are installing hydrogen fueling infrastructure at truck stops, supported by both free-market demand and energy subsidies, Fritz noted.
She said that free-market demand alone is not yet strong enough to support the hydrogen sector.
“We need the regulatory drivers and we need continued support,” Fritz said. “The hydrogen and fuel cell industry has not enjoyed 40 years of constant scaled subsidies the way solar, for example, has, and even batteries. We've had stop-start cycles as new administrations come in, come out. You have to reeducate.”
CHBC is asking the Trump administration and California government to leave in place current tax credits for clean energy, including hydrogen, Fritz said.
Clean hydrogen hubs have bipartisan support and exist in both Democrat- and Republican-leaning states, she added.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) refers to these projects as “Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.”
DOE announced the last two grants under this program on Jan. 17, days before the new administration took office.
DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Development (OCED) provided $20 million for the Heartland Hydrogen Hub to begin “Phase 1 activities” under the leadership of the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center. The first phase entails initial planning, design, and community and labor engagement activities.
OCED also granted $18.8 million to the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub to start first-phase activities under the leadership of the public-private Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, Inc. The activities will include clean hydrogen to be used for heavy-duty transportation, with refueling stations planned to serve sanitation trash trucks, street sweepers and fuel cell electric buses.
DOE claims the two grants will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of more than 340,000 ICE cars.
Shifting Political Realities
One of the subtexts of President Donald Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, and other Trump policies, is an effort to boost workforces that the White House deems to have been “left out in the cold,” Lynn Qua said.
An anticipated slowdown of battery electric infrastructure subsidies could coincide with a resultant dearth in battery production, she noted.
The administration may not officially choose hydrogen to be a winner in the clean energy market, but the market could foreseeably respond to lower battery electric subsidies by investing more in hydrogen fuel cell production, Lynn Qua said.
“The industry may say, ‘All right, if electric is not the answer to the industry, then what is?’” Lynn Qua added. “Now it's the question of whether or not hydrogen can catch up so they can take their move and they can actually surge into the market space if it's actually granted to them as an opening.”
Fueling Infrastructure and Preliminary Launch Plans
One potential mitigating factor of hydrogen infrastructure costs is that fuel cells can be refueled within minutes compared with battery EVs, which must be plugged in for hours, Fritz noted.
OEM companies like Toyota, Hyundai and BMW are looking to extend hydrogen fuel cell technology into both the commercial and passenger vehicle space, due to the perceived refueling efficiency of the technology, she said.
“Fuel cells perform more like [the ICE vehicles] they're replacing,” Fritz added. “They can be refueled very quickly. They can carry heavier payloads if you are putting them on a locomotive or on a long-haul truck.”
Hyundai boasts its 2023 NEXO fuel cell refuels in five minutes and produces zero emissions. The company also announced in October a new “INITIUM” hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle with a targeted driving range of more than 650 kilometers, tabbed to enter production in the first half of this year.
That SUV is also being designed to act as a power source, with potential to charge various household appliances, according to Hyundai’s website.
“Notably, the outdoor terminal is designed to connect directly to a 220V household outlet, Hyundai stated, “transforming INITIUM from a means of transportation into a potential energy supplier.”
Brian Bradley