Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) has announced that it will enter a vehicle equipped with a developmental hydrogen-powered engine at the five-hour-long Super Taikyu Series 2021.
The hydrogen-powered engine is being developed as part of Toyota’s efforts to realize a carbon-neutral mobility society. Just as in Round 3 and Round 4, the vehicle will be entered under the ORC ROOKIE Racing banner, and Toyota President Akio Toyoda will participate in the race as the driver Morizo.
“In order to achieve a carbon-neutral hydrogen society through racing hydrogen-powered engine vehicles, a group of people with the will and passion to work together, have gathered from across industries and are taking on various challenges together,” it said.
“In the race at Fuji Speedway, we tried “using” hydrogen, and in the race at Autopolis, we tried to expand our options in the area of “producing” hydrogen. In the Suzuka race this time, we will challenge on the theme of “transporting,” it added.
Specifically, Toyota said that it will use hydrogen produced from Australian lignite to power its vehicle in Round 5. This hydrogen will be transported to and within Japan by a partnership of three companies: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Kawasaki Heavy Industries), Iwatani Corporation (Iwatani), and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power).
“In addition, we will take on the challenge of realizing a clean hydrogen society by working to reduce CO2 emissions generated when transporting hydrogen in Japan with bio-fuel trucks and fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs). As for vehicles, we will promote further improvements through agile development, and introduce new connected systems at development sites to be utilized in vehicle development,” it said.
“Since our participation in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hour Race, we have discovered many issues through working on the site, and the movement to solve these issues with our colleagues has been accelerating. collaborate extensively beyond the boundaries of the industry to solve issues identified through this initiative,” it added.