Toyota’s latest push into hydrogen tech comes as the world’s biggest carmaker joins the race for a share of the rapidly growing market for battery electric vehicles (BEV), as the world tightens emission regulations to meet carbon-cutting pledges.
More details🧐 At the COP26 in Glasgow, six major car makers, including General Motors, Ford Motor, Volvo, & Mercedes-Benz signed a declaration to phase out fossil-fuel cars by 2040.
Toyota did not join that group, arguing that much of the world (developing countries) is not ready for a shift to EVs.
“We don’t want to be seen as an EV maker, but as a carbon-neutral company,” Toyota Vice Chairman Shigeru Hayakawa told Reuters in an interview.
Why is this important🤔 Although hydrogen fuel is considered environmentally-friendly since it does not produce the same waste as fossil fuels during production, Toyota’s engine is not completely carbon-free & therefore can’t be classified as zero-emission.
Four Japanese automakers will join Toyota’s initiative, including Kawasaki, Yamaha, Subaru, & Mazda, to find ways to establish hydrogen as a transport fuel, which had previously proved difficult to do.
