| Tokyo, Japan--Toyota
Motor Corporation announced today that the TOYOTA FCHV, Toyota's fuel cell
hybrid vehicle, will operate on public roads in and around Central Japan
International Airport (Centrair), south of Nagoya. The TOYOTA FCHV will
be used by Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. (Yamato Transport) as part of the
Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC), organized
by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
The TOYOTA FCHV being used in the
project will be registered as a commercial transport vehicle. It will be
loaned to Yamato Transport and used for deliveries between one of its Nagoya-area
distribution centers and Centrair. The vehicle will be fueled at the JHFC
Centrair Hydrogen Station, which was set up within Centrair as part of
the JHFC's Demonstration Study of Hydrogen Fueling Facilities for Fuel
Cell Vehicles. Through this project, TMC plans to obtain a wide range of
data necessary for the commercialization of fuel cell hybrid vehicles.
TMC plans to hand the Toyota FCHV
over to Yamato Transport at a ceremony on April 24 at Yamato Transport's
Kanagawa Regional Branch in Yokohama.
Outline of Yamato Transport TOYOTA
FCHV
For reference
- The Japan Automobile Research
Institute, which is promoting the JHFC under METI, made an appeal in April
2006 for third-party companies and organizations to operate a fleet of
fuel cell vehicles. TMC responded and was selected that year.
- Units of the FCHV-BUS (a fuel
cell hybrid bus) that TMC developed jointly with Hino Motors, Ltd. have
been in operation in and around Centrair since July 2006.
Outline of the TOYOTA FCHV
1) Development
In December 2002, Toyota became
one of the first companies to commercialize a fuel cell hybrid vehicle,
the TOYOTA FCHV, when it began selling the vehicle on a limited basis in
Japan and the U.S. The TOYOTA FCHV was partially improved in June 2005
and became the first fuel cell hybrid vehicle in Japan to acquire vehicle
type certification. Vehicle leasing began on July 1 of that year.
The fuel cell hybrid vehicle to be
used by Yamato Transport has been modified by TMC for freight purposes,
and the transport company has acquired a commercial registration. The vehicle's
decals have been changed and equipment necessary for transporting freight
has been installed.
2) Main Features
The vehicle features an electric-motor
hybrid system powered by a battery and fuel cells supplied with high-pressure
hydrogen gas. During operation, it does not emit carbon dioxide, said to
be a cause of global warming, or any other atmospheric pollutant such as
nitrogen oxide; it is both highly energy-efficient and very quiet.
3) Main Specifications (Yamato
Transport specifications)

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