Most of the world’s car manufacturers have in recent years begun the transition from fossil-powered cars to electric cars, and a total transition to electric cars is considered by many to be the only solution for the automotive industry to reach its environmental goals.
At the same time, sales of electric cars have encountered setbacks in the past year, and more and more critical voices are being raised against electric cars and their batteries.
Now reporting Japanese Nikkei that Toyota and BMW begin a collaboration to work on an alternative solution to traditional battery-powered electric cars.
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Will build hydrogen cars
What Toyota and BMW will jointly develop are so-called hydrogen cars.
Technically, these are also electric cars, but not of the type that is common on the market today.
Mirai is Toyota’s latest hydrogen car – Photo: Toyota
Instead of a large battery, a hydrogen car is equipped with a tank for hydrogen gas, as well as a fuel cell where hydrogen gas is combined with air to generate electricity.
The byproduct of the process is water.
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Alternative to regular electric cars
The big advantage of a hydrogen car is, in theory, that instead of time-consuming charging stops, you can fill up the tank in a few minutes at a garage just like with a gasoline car.
However, this presupposes that there is a hydrogen tank available, and so far there are only a few hundred of these within the EU. Only six of these are in Sweden.
A hydrogen car is an environmentally friendly alternative without any harmful emissions, but only as long as the hydrogen is produced with renewable energy. However, the majority of hydrogen used today comes from fossil sources.
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Toyota and BMW believe in hydrogen
Toyota has long stood out in the auto industry for its commitment to hydrogen cars, while at the same time it has had a skeptical attitude towards battery-powered electric cars. It is already in the second generation of its hydrogen car Mirai.
BMW has also looked at hydrogen as an alternative fuel in several concept cars, the latest of which is a fully functional BMW X5 equipped with a fuel cell.
BMW already has a concept car with a fuel cell – Photo: BMW
According to Nikkei, BMW plans to launch a hydrogen car on the market within a few years.
Toyota and BMW will now be able to share experiences and reduce their development costs. The collaboration will also include the expansion of hydrogen gas stations in Europe.
The two companies are reportedly putting the final pieces of the puzzle on a collaboration agreement at a meeting next week.
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