Toyota Corolla Cross H2 Idea Has GR Corolla Engine, Runs On Hydrogen

Toyota sees a future for hydrogen in automobiles, and never simply as gasoline cells for electrical motors. The corporate has unveiled the Corolla Cross H2 Idea, geared up with an internal-combustion engine designed to burn hydrogen as an alternative of gasoline or diesel.

It is not simply any combustion engine, both. Below the hood of this white and blue prototype is a model of the snarling 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder used within the GR Corolla. In the event you comply with Toyota within the racing scene, you will know that the Japanese automaker is operating a hydrogen-powered GR Corolla within the Tremendous Taikyu endurance sequence. Toyota additionally did an illustration run within the World Rally Championship (WRC) with a hydrogen-fueled GR Yaris H2. Now, the expertise gained by means of motorsports is transitioning to a road-going utility within the Corolla Cross H2 Idea.

What sort of expertise are we speaking about? Toyota says it is elevated hydrogen combustion energy by 24 p.c, taking it to energy ranges much like a comparable gasoline engine. Vary can also be up 30 p.c, and refueling time in racing purposes is right down to only a minute and a half. That is nonetheless an eternity in a race, however for a small five-passenger crossover, it is a blink of a watch.

In fact, one would not merely dump hydrogen into the tank of a traditional Corolla Cross and name it a day. The H2 Idea carries a particular tank utilizing expertise gained from the production-spec Mirai sedan, with the engine utilizing high-pressure hydrogen direct injection tech. Actual-world analysis of this idea is underway, with winter testing in northern Japan starting quickly.

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It is all a part of Toyota’s transfer in the direction of carbon neutrality, a course of that the automaker believes will not be achieved by means of battery-electric automobiles alone. Improvement of an electrical Toyota Hilux prototype utilizing a hydrogen gasoline cell was just lately introduced, using second-generation fuel-cell know-how borrowed from the Mirai.

As well as, Toyota will proceed growing hybrid and plug-in hybrid fashions in addition to electrical automobiles for its future lineup. Nonetheless, the automaker states it is presently not potential to say for sure whether or not hydrogen techniques will in the end see maturity on road-going automobiles.