Toyota to Debut Fuel Cell Buses in Japan in 2017

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to introduce a fuel cell-powered transit bus in Japan next spring. The company aims to put at least 100 of the vehicles into operation by the time the Olympics come to Tokyo in 2020.

Two of the buses, which will be priced at about 100 million yen ($963,000) each, will be put into service in March by Tokyo’s Bureau of Transportation. The vehicles will be partly subsidized by Japan’s transport ministry as part of a program to promote the use of “green” vehicles.

The vehicles tap technology used in Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell sedan and will have a range of more than 200 km (124 miles) per fill-up of compressed hydrogen. Their fuel cells can generate 9 kW of power and carry fuel tanks that can store the equivalent of 235 kWh of electricity.

The buses team two solid-polymer-electrolyte fuel cell stacks with a pair of AC synchronous electric motors and a nickel-metal-hydride battery.

Toyota plans to debut a next-generation version of the bus in 2018. The company, which has been developing fuel cell buses with its Hino Motors Ltd. affiliate, notes that the vehicles could be used to provide electric power for homes and emergency shelters during a natural disaster.