Toyota Likely To Apply Fuel-Cell Technology to Long-Haul Trucks and Buses First - TruckTrend Magazine
Toyota continues pushing ahead with its fuel-cell program and is looking to market a fuel-cell vehicle in 2015. The alternative fuel technology will likely be applied first to long-haul trucks and buses before hitting passenger vehicles available... To assist FCV range, the fuel-tank capacity was doubled from pressure levels of 5075 psi to 10,150 psi. A driving test held last June revealed that the increased tank capacity, along with improvements to the fuel-cell system, was able to boost the range of the Highlander-based FCV from 206 miles to 500 miles. Toyota has noted that improvements have been made to driving energy, inverter motor loss, high-voltage converter loss, fuel-cell heat loss, air-compressor power, hydrogen pump power, cooling water power, and auxiliary battery power. Reducing auxiliary system loss and increasing regenerative energy has net an increased fuel economy by 25%. Toyota's findings on its fuel-cell efficiency are listed in the table below. Source: www.trucktrend.com
