Toyota FCV-R Concept Points to Production Fuel-Cell Vehicle: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show
Fuel Cell Vehicles that run on electricity and emit nothing but water vapor may sound like a pipe dream, but Toyota is reconfirming its commitment to making them a reality by 2015 with the new FCV-R Concept. Unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show, the FCV-R (Fuel Cell Vehicle – Reality & Revolution) is a strong hint that Toyota is far more serious about mass production hydrogen fuel cell vehicles than it was when it first began testing the modified Highlander FCHV back in 2007.
Toyota has said it will offer a fuel cell model for fleet use in 2015 and while that is still a ways off, this new car is a strong indication of the serious nature of the project, giving it a unique design language (similar to the Prius family). The car is also an original model in that it doesn’t ride on an obvious donor platform. Details are still scarce but Toyota has said the car is roughly 185-inches, which for a size comparison is 4-inches shorter than the current Camry. That said, it’s significantly more substantial a vehicle than the Prius.
Impressively, Toyota claims an emissions free driving range of 430 miles in the FCV-R Concept. We expect to see further renditions of this concept over the next few years, becoming increasingly closer to production at each stage.
GALLERY: Toyota FCV-R Concept
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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