Toyota Builds Mini Hydrogen Car
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Toyotas Mini Hydrogen Powered RC Car
Toyota has teamed up with Tamiya to provide us with the new mini hydrogen powered RC car. It’s a mini Toyota Mirai. The car is roughly scaled down by a factor of 10. The RC Mirai is a result of Toyato giving its engineers the freedom to make fun projects, last time we got the GR Yaris, this time we get a mini hydrogen car! Despite being only a fraction of the size from the regular Mirai, the tech that provides its power is identical. It has a very small hydrogen fuel cell under the plastic body, which uses compressed hydrogen to generate 20 Watts. This power in turn drives the electric motors.
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Toyota Technology
The tech in this car allowed it double the range of a tradition RC car which is supposed to show people on a small scale the benefits of hydrogen powered vehicles. We talked more about the benefits and drawbacks on hydrogen cars here: Hydrogen Cars Explained!. Bramble Energy is the company behind the miniature tech and mini hydrogen cells, they are hydrogen cell specialists after all. The new tech and cells were then attached to a common RC frame known as the TT-02 chassis. It’s four wheel drive and fairly well known in the RC community.
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The Future Of Hydrogen
Toyota made the mini Mirai to showcase the potential of hydrogen fuel cells. The full sized version of the car that the RC counterpart is based on also uses hydrogen fuel cells albeit much larger ones. Toyota has gone on record stating they want to increase production of their hydrogen fuel cells by up to 30,000 units per year. The company states that hydrogen powered cars are just the beginning. Trains, boats, planes and many other vehicles and power generators could be using hydrogen as a fuel source in what Toyota likes to call a “Hydrogen Society”.
It Generate electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air. This electricity is then used to power an electric motor, which drives the vehicle’s wheels.
One of the main advantages of the Mirai is that it produces zero emissions, with the only by-product being water vapour. It also has a longer range than most battery electric vehicles, with a single tank of hydrogen allowing it to travel up to 300 miles (483 kilometres) on a full charge. The Mirai can be refuelled in just a few minutes, making it a practical alternative to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.
However, one of the major challenges facing the Mirai and other hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is the lack of a widespread refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen. The high cost of producing, transporting, and storing hydrogen also limits the availability and affordability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Overall, the Toyota Mirai represents a promising and innovative approach to sustainable transportation, but the technology is still in the early stages of development and faces significant challenges in terms of infrastructure and cost.
While hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like the Toyota Mirai offer a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, the widespread adoption of hydrogen as a fuel for cars faces a number of significant challenges.
One of the biggest obstacles to the widespread use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is the lack of a widespread refueling infrastructure. Unlike gasoline stations, there are currently only a limited number of hydrogen fueling stations available in most regions, which makes it difficult for drivers to refuel their hydrogen-powered cars.
Another challenge is the high cost of producing, transporting, and storing hydrogen, which makes hydrogen fuel cell vehicles more expensive than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. The cost of fuel cell vehicles is expected to decline as production volumes increase and technology improves, but the infrastructure challenges may limit the pace of adoption.
In conclusion, while hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have the potential to play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving towards a more sustainable transportation system, the technology is still in the early stages of development, and it will likely take many years to develop the necessary infrastructure to support widespread use of hydrogen as a fuel for cars.