Toyota drops a bigger ball than Accelerator Failure - 2010

Toyota drops a bigger ball than Accelerator Failure on the Green car movement.  Toyota has enjoyed a commanding lead in the Hybrid market of 135,000 units sold per year.  The next 3 auto makers are a measly 15,000 units each per year.  However, in the Hydrogen Fuel Cell arena (can't be called a Market until someone sells them)  where the cars have Zero OPEC Oil on board, Toyota has floundered.  They abandoned their long time lead in research & proto-type development from 1998 to 2005 to be outwitted and outmaneuvered by Honda.
In 2010, Toyota has taken a step backwards and announced another round of test vehicles for the Universities.
Obviously, Toyota folks don't show up at the One time Per Year UC Davis Breaks out the Hydrogen Highlander.  It's a huge fiasco every year.  The official UC Davis spokes-person sounds like an Exxon salesman, pitching one lie after another about the doom of H2 technologies.  The local Davis Electric Car club has more Facts and Truths to tell about H2 at the next booth.

Here is Toyota's lame replay on the test project:

Toyota Dives Deeper Into Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles

by Nino Marchetti, January 11th, 2010

Even as Toyota kicks out news about its expanded Prius family and exciting new hybrid concept, the auto manufacturer continues to also explore other more eco-fueling options for future vehicles. One of these options is hydrogen fuel cells, with Toyota saying today at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) it is expanding its fuel cell vehicle demonstration program here.
Toyota said it specifically plans to have “more than 100 Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (FCHV-adv) vehicles…placed in a nationwide demonstration program over the next three years.” These hydrogen fuel cell hybrids will be in more institutional settings first, such as universities, private companies and government agencies, in both California and New York. Plans include adding additional regions and partners as “new hydrogen stations come online.” The eventual goal? Demonstration of fuel cell technologies reliability and performance prior to a 2015 general market introduction.

image via Toyota

“We plan to come to market in 2015, or earlier, with a vehicle that will be reliable and durable, with exceptional fuel economy and zero emissions, at an affordable price,” said Irv Miller, TMS group vice president of environmental and public affairs, in a statement.”Toyota will not be alone in the fuel cell marketplace and building an extensive hydrogen re-fueling infrastructure is the critical next step. Hopefully, expansion of demonstration programs like this one will serve as a catalyst.”


To see how far ahead Honda is see:

The Hydrogen Infrastructure Myth is Dead!

Want more details on Honda's Solar Hydrogen Refueler?