Toyota’s first liquid hydrogen Corolla race car ignites a revolution

A little Corolla powered by liquid hydrogen made its racing debut on a vast track close to Mount Fuji as part of an initiative to introduce the cutting-edge technology into the racing scene and to show Toyota’s commitment to creating eco-friendly cars.

Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota, was beaming as he prepared to drive the hydrogen-fueled Corolla around the track while clad in a fire-resistant racing costume.

“Racing using a liquid hydrogen automobile is a first for the globe. In the effort to combat global warming, we hope it will provide an additional choice.

I want to run one lap, even one second farther to make everyone happy,” said Toyoda, a former Toyota CEO, the company’s founder’s grandson, and a licensed racer himself.

It won’t be long until the hydrogen-powered Corolla racing vehicle appears at your dealer. According to Toyota representatives, the Super Taikyu 24-hour race at Fuji Speedway was only a test for the technology.

 

It features a combustion engine, unlike electric cars, but it burns liquid hydrogen rather than gasoline.

Toyota Motor Corp., a Japanese carmaker that sells roughly 10 million cars annually, has lagged behind in the worldwide transition to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), but it has long seen hydrogen as a potentially carbon-neutral alternative.

Experts claim that hydrogen has enormous potential. However, most hydrogen produced to date has been done so using fossil fuels like natural gas, including the hydrogen used to power the Corolla racing vehicle.

The need for alternative energy sources has become more urgent due to rising fuel costs and worries about global warming, particularly in Japan, where almost all of its oil is imported.

Auto racing has been eschewing its gas-guzzling, snarling machines. Honda Motor Co., a competitor of Toyota, has said it will resume competing in Formula One, citing the opportunity presented by the new rules for the development of new technology. General Motors Co. and other manufacturers have made such pledges.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most prestigious endurance race in the world, will be available to hydrogen-powered vehicles utilizing both fuel cells and combustion engines beginning in 2026, according to an announcement made last week by Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the organization that puts on Le Mans.

For me, hydrogen is a really intriguing future answer, Fillon told reporters. “In order to achieve zero emissions, we must move. This is crucial for the environment and our future generations. Toyota CEO Koji Sato said that he planned to announce Toyota’s involvement at Le Mans shortly.

John Heywood, an MIT professor emeritus and authority on automobile engines, said that the conversation about green energy solutions has barely started and that EVs also have disadvantages, such as the need for crucial minerals that are sometimes acquired in unethical or ecologically harmful ways.

The internal combustion engine is not in any way environmentally unfriendly. The fuel it utilizes is what counts, according to Heywood.

The hydrogen for Toyota’s racing vehicle is produced at an Australian coal gasification facility and distributed by the Japanese energy business Iwatani Corp. as part of a programme supported by the Japanese government to encourage the use of hydrogen for a range of sectors, including those utilizing fossil fuels.

When water is electrolyzed to separate its hydrogen and oxygen molecules, green hydrogen is produced. This happens when renewable energy sources drive an electrical current through water. The technique does not result in the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, however the IEA estimates that fewer than 0.1% of the hydrogen produced globally is now produced in this manner.

According to critics, it could be preferable to just consume that renewable energy instead of converting it to hydrogen. However, proponents of hydrogen claim that when carbon emissions are captured and stored underground, even those created from natural gas may be environmentally good.

Sato recognized the difficulty. “The first thing we must do is establish a setting conducive to employing hydrogen. “It’s important that the cycle of that system is working in all steps, including transporting it and making it, for hydrogen use to become widely used, and that environment must be stable,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the race.

In addition to the qualifications of hydrogen’s greenness, there are additional problems.

During a test drive for a race in March at the Suzuka track, which hosts the Formula One Grand Prix and other events, a Toyota car powered by liquid hydrogen caught fire.

A leak sensor that was correctly functioning stopped the hydrogen leak in less than a tenth of a second from coming from a pipe that had become loose due to the vehicle’s vibrations. According to Toyota, nobody was harmed, the cabin was secured, and the fire was put out.

Toyota’s No. 32 Corolla, one of the hundreds of vehicles competing in the 24-hour race at Fuji Speedway, was doomed to fall short.

In a race when competitors are battling for seconds, refueling and inspections in the pit, which are so important to racing, took a long time.

However, according to Tomoya Takahashi, president of Toyota’s Gazoo Racing Co., the introduction of liquid hydrogen into racing may be a modest step in the right direction.

“We’re constructing for the future in this. The internal combustion engine has promise, he argued, and is not the sole solution.