Technology

Hydrogen combustion offers an EV alternative

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Toyota is pursuing hydrogen combustion engines on its road to carbon neutrality.
April 09, 2023 04:00 AM

Toyota broke new ground when it deployed a hydrogen-burning engine in a race car in 2021. Since then, it has improved the clean-burning power system and is pitching it as an alternative to battery-electric vehicles in the pursuit of carbon neutrality. It is not a hydrogen fuel cell technology that generates electricity. The proposed powertrains are internal combustion, but they burn hydrogen instead of gasoline. The potential benefit is their ability to piggyback on internal combustion components, in addition to promising better performance under extreme temperatures and heavy loads. But hurdles remain, especially the lack of a fueling infrastructure. Toyota has not set a timeline for commercializing the concept. However, suppliers are already queuing up to help make it happen.

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