Toyota says to develop alternative fuels with other Japanese vehicle makers

Okayama, Nov. 14 (BNA): Toyota Motor Corporation said Saturday that it will partner with four other Japanese automakers to explore the feasibility of alternative green fuels for internal combustion engine vehicles, including hydrogen and synthetic fuels derived from biomass.

The companies, which in addition to Toyota include Mazda Motor Corp., Subaru Corp., Yamaha Motor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, made the announcement at a racetrack in Okayama, western Japan, where Toyota is racing a hydrogen car.

The hydrogen race car is being driven by Toyota President Akio Toyoda along with other Toyota drivers.

Converting internal combustion engines to green fuels like hydrogen is technologically challenging, but doing so would allow companies to support decades-old supply chains that employ hundreds of thousands of workers they may have to abandon during the transition to building electric vehicles (EV).

As states tighten environmental regulations to cut carbon emissions, automakers including Toyota are ramping up production of electric vehicles. Japan has said it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and is promoting the use of hydrogen fuels.

Toyota plans to produce 15 models of electric vehicles by 2025 and is investing $13.5 billion over the next decade to expand battery production capacity. However, at the same time, it continues to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles.

MI