LA 2007 Preview: Toyota to make fuel cell announcement
In late September, a Toyota fuel cell vehicle based on the previous generation Highlander SUV ran 347 miles from Osaka to Tokyo on a single hydrogen fill up. To date the company still hasn't given much detail about the vehicle configuration such as the fuel capacity but we may find out more in a couple of weeks. At their Los Angeles Auto Show press conference, Toyota will be making what they are terming a "major" announcement about their fuel cell program. No other information is available right now but it seems likely that they will follow General Motors and Honda in releasing a fleet of fuel cell vehicles to the public. We'll keep you posted, live from LA, in a couple of weeks.
[Source: Toyota]
10/30/2007 Torrance, CA
October 30, 2007 – Torrance, CA - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. will stage the world premiere of the all-new 2008 Sequoia full-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) and also make a major announcement regarding Toyota's fuel cell
development program at a press conference at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The completely redesigned 2008 Sequoia will be more spacious with a higher level of passenger comfort. It also will be substantially more powerful and yet, significantly more fuel efficient.
The press conference will be held on Wednesday, November 14 at 12:15 PM at the Toyota exhibit space in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. A video clip of the press conference will be available for viewing following the event on the Toyota.com website.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris M 6:14PM (11/01/2007)
GM had a 300 mile run in their "Sequel" prototype, so Toyota had to trump them with a 347 mile run.
I'm betting that Toyota plans to do something like the GM "project driveway" and make a few H2FC prototypes to be leased to individuals in select areas, possibly with free fuel and a zero cost lease. So how will Toyota trump GM? Perhaps by offering a few more than GM, or by leasing for a longer period of time.
Of course, all of the H2 car efforts are still just "look modern, look green" promotions, none of the manufacturers have any serious plans to mass produce these costly inefficient H2 vehicles.
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