Toyota plans to sell a fuel cell vehicle in 2015, which would make it a leader in a technology that most other automakers regard as about 10 years from being marketable.
Toyota is sticking to its timetable of selling a fuel cell sedan in three years, said Justin Ward, advanced powertrain program manager at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor.
Initially, it likely will be sold in California, which plans to have 68 hydrogen fueling stations by the end of 2015, Ward said at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars.
Ward said the fuel cell car will be available for both retail and commercial sale.
Honda has sold a few hundred of its FCX Clarity fuel cell-electric cars since 2008, mostly in California.
Executives from Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and Volkswagen see fuel cell vehicles as being further out and most have not said when they will have vehicles on the market.
"We don't see it as early as Toyota does," said Oliver Schmidt, general manager of engineering with the VW Group. "We see it in the 2020 timeframe."
Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of powertrain engineering, said, "The question is when fuel cell vehicles become affordable to customers," specifically when the fuel cell stack competes with the battery pack on cost.
"Within 10 years I think they will be as affordable as full battery vehicles and the fuel cell will have a big advantage in range," Bakaj said. "We think it will happen in the next 10 years."
Gary Smyth, GM executive director working on global research and development, said he sees little commitment in the U.S. to the necessary infrastructure by 2015.
-Courtesy of Detroit Free Press
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