Toyota has announced that by the year 2015 they will be selling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for around $50,000 each, cutting the costs from half a decade earlier by about 90-percent. And not only this, but Toyota has stated that at $50,000 apiece the hydrogen fuel cars will make the company a profit.
This week, at the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California, Toyota spokesman Yoshihiko Masuda stated, “Toyota cut expenses to make the vehicles by reducing platinum use to about one-third the previous level and finding cheaper ways to produce the thin film used in the fuel cells and the carbon-fiber hydrogen fuel tanks …”
Some of the countries that Toyota intends to introduce its production hydrogen cars into include the United States, Germany, Japan and perhaps even South Korea. And in this group, in the next 5 years, California will get its fair share of hydrogen cars by Toyota and other manufacturers.
California Governor Schwarzenegger, who gave a speech and received an award at the NHA Conference and Expo this week, stated that by 2017 there will be 45,000 production hydrogen cars on the roads in California.
The governor says California is building hydrogen communities in such places as Santa Monica, Irvine, Los Angeles, Torrance, Newport Beach and Burbank. Governor Schwarzenegger ended his speech telling the hydrogen advocates that even when he’s out of office he will be a lifelong partner in alternative energy and sounding a bit like a democrat, he said, “Yes, we can.” For a short time, you’ll be able to watch the video of this speech on the government website.
So, with $50,000 Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for sale and hydrogen communities in place to provide hydrogen fuel look for the year 2015 to be a transformational year towards a clean energy future.
I hope Toyota can bring the price below $40k, the price for the Volt gas/electric vehicle. What happened to claims from Mercedes that they will market the B class for $30k or less? At $50k, the Toyota FCHV adv will be twice the cost
of a typical hybrid car.
How much can Toyota trim off the price tag by abandoning high pressure hydrogen tanks in favor of the technology being developed by PlasmaKinetics?
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can’t cost more than battery electric and EREVs if they are going to out compete them. People will ignore range differences and fueling time, especially in the case of EREV vehicles, if the price is not right for fuel cell vehicles.
This $50k news may seem like good news, but it is terrible news. The Volt being $40k, which isn’t the answer in my opinion, is a problem if the Toyota FCHV adv costs $50k.
I hope Toyota can get the price down, at least by 2020, to something far more reasonable like say $25k-$30k. If Toyota doesn’t get the price down, ideas like hydrogen fuel station cooperatives just won’t work. There won’t be the volume of sales needed to support building out the infrastructure this way and those who do buy FC vehicles at high prices are less likely to want to foot $1k-$2k more.
The government should pass a new gas tax right now of 5 cents a gallon in
the U.S. and make sure that the proceeds go to companies that want to build hydrogen fueling stations and h2 vehicles. I think the domestic car manufacturers have a window of opportunity to sell a suitable fuel cell vehicle at a more realistic price.
There is always a price point that people are willing to pay or not to pay. Are you willing to pay over $1 million for a Bugatti Veyron? A few people are. How about a Rolls Royce? A few more people are. How about a Tesla Roadster?
The point is that 5 years ago people were outraged that a hydrogen car prototype cost the carmakers over $1 million to produce and they weren’t willing to pay that for a commercial vehicle. The three years ago, people were outraged that a hydrogen car prototype cost $500,000 and they weren’t willing to pay that. And then a couple of years ago the price dropped in half and again in half and people are still outraged.
The point is that if you don’t want to buy a $50,000 vehicle (whether it’s a hydrogen car, Lexus hybrid, BMW M5) then don’t buy it. If you want to wait for the $10,000 hydrogen car to come out, then wait for it. Personally, I don’t think a $50,000 car featuring new commercial technology is unreasonable, to start with especially considering there will be government incentives to bring down this price. The Tesla Roadsters started with a price tag over $100,000.
The hydrogen car prototypes and limited production vehicles produced today are also hybrid vehicles. Some of the prototypes are even plug-in hybrids. A few years from now, I expect to see more and more hydrogen plug-in hybrid vehicles.
I realize that you’re anxious to get the ball rolling as am I, but public acceptance will proceed one step at a time, one technological breakthrough at a time and one price break to consumers at a time.
I am looking forward to buying one! There is still no one commercially available in Europe.