Toyota is one among a number of carmakers satisfied that there’s no single zero-emissions resolution to the world’s clear gas quest. Whereas some rivals are throwing all their efforts behind electrical energy, Toyota is creating each hydrogen gas cell and hydrogen-powered combustion engines alongside EVs and hybrids.
We’ve already examine Toyota’s racing exploits with a hydrogen-fuelled GR Corolla and now the carmaker has transplanted that tech right into a extra sensible five-seat SUV to create the Toyota Corolla Cross H2 hydrogen idea.
The prototype includes a hydrogen tank from Toyota’s Mirai sedan. However the place the Mirai is a gas cell automobile that turns hydrogen into electrical energy, this idea makes use of a standard combustion engine tailored to run on hydrogen as an alternative of gasoline. The engine is the 1.6-liter turbocharged triple from the recent GR Corolla, whose energy Toyota was in a position to improve by 24 p.c through the course of the Tremendous Taikyu racing season, finally matching the 300 hp (304 PS) of a gas-powered GR Corolla. The Cross idea even has a six-speed handbook transmission, similar to the recent hatch.
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Toyota doesn’t point out any efficiency figures for the hydrogen Cross, however based mostly on the hatch’s 5-second to 60 mph (97 km/h) numbers, we’d guess the heavier SUV ought to nonetheless be good for six seconds, which might make it a fairly stealthy household crossover if it ever made it to manufacturing.
As but there’s no date for that occasion, Toyota claiming it’s “round 40 p.c” alongside the trail to placing autos just like the H2 Corolla Cross in showrooms. However the firm clearly believes hydrogen has a future, highlighting its fast refueling instances and the truth that, in contrast to EVs, hydrogen-powered combustion vehicles don’t depend on supplies like lithium and nickel, which might go away the planet in a multitude once they’re mined.