Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle Demonstration Program Expands

More Than 100 Fuel Cell Vehicles Placed in the U.S. Over The Next 3 Years
 
DETROIT, January 11, 2010 - - Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS) announced today that more than 100 Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (FCHV-adv) vehicles will be placed in a nationwide demonstration program over the next three years.
 
TMS and Toyota Motor Manufacturing and Engineering North America, Inc. will place vehicles with universities, private companies and government agencies in both California and New York.  Over the three year course of the demonstration program, as new hydrogen stations come online, additional regions and partners will be added.  Toyota’s demonstration program expansion will provide one of the largest fleets of active fuel cell vehicles in the country with the primary goal of spurring essential hydrogen infrastructure development.  The demonstration program also will serve to demonstrate fuel cell technologies reliability and performance prior to its 2015 market introduction.  
 
“We plan to come to market in 2015, or earlier, with a vehicle that will be reliable and durable, with exceptional fuel economy and zero emissions, at an affordable price,” said Irv Miller, TMS group vice president of environmental and public affairs.  “Toyota will not be alone in the fuel cell marketplace and building an extensive hydrogen re-fueling infrastructure is the critical next step.  Hopefully, expansion of demonstration programs like this one will serve as a catalyst.”
 
In December 2002, Toyota began limited testing of fuel cell vehicles in the U.S. and Japan.  A total of 20 first generation fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHV) are in service in California with universities, corporations and government agencies.  Toyota enlisted the University of California, Irvine, University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Davis to test different aspects of consumer acceptance and market dynamics of fuel cell vehicles.  FCHV also are placed with the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a public-private partnership organization to promote the adoption of hydrogen vehicles in California. 
 
Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell technology has advanced at an impressive pace since the FCHV introduction in 2002.  Toyota engineers have consistently improved vehicle range, durability and efficiency through improvements in the fuel cell stack and the high-pressure hydrogen storage system, while achieving significant cost reductions in materials and manufacturing.  When the FCHV-adv was introduced in 2008, it boasted an estimated range increase of more than 150% over the first generation FCHV.
 
In late 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah River National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, approached Toyota to participate in a collaborative evaluation of the real-world driving range of the FCHV-adv.  When the range evaluation was completed in 2009, the FCHV-adv averaged the equivalent of 68 mpg and achieved an estimated range of 431 miles on a single fill of hydrogen compressed gas.  To compare, that’s more than double the range of the Highlander Hybrid with zero emissions.   
 
In late 2007, the technology improvements implemented in the FCHV-adv were road tested in extreme conditions on a 2,300 mile trek from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia along the Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) highway.   The seven day trip confirmed substantial progress in reliability and durability, cold-weather operation and extended range capability of the hybrid fuel cell system.
 
Over the last decade, Toyota has focused on a broad, comprehensive advanced technology approach, with the belief that there is no single technology solution for the future.  Beginning in late 2009, Toyota began delivery of 600 Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) for a global demonstration program.  Of this initial fleet, 150 will be placed with select U.S. partners for market/consumer analysis and technical demonstration. The program will allow Toyota to gather real world vehicle-use feedback to better understand customer expectations for plug-in technology, confirm, in a wide variety of real world applications, the overall performance of first-generation lithium-ion battery technology and spur the development of public-access charging station infrastructure.
 
“Advanced technology demonstration programs like these are a necessary next step in societal preparation,” said Miller.  “They allow us the unique opportunity to inform, educate and prepare customers for the arrival of true sustainable mobility.”
 
For additional information on Toyota’s fuel cell vehicle program, visit www.sustainablemobility.com.
 

Toyota Issues 2009 North America Environmental Report, Updating Progress on Environmental Goals

Introduction of New Prius and Reduction of Energy in Plants among Accomplishments in Year
 
NEW YORK – Toyota announced significant environmental accomplishments over the last year in its ninth annual North America Environmental Report released today.  The report is an update on progress toward the goals and targets in the company's 2011 Environmental Action Plan.
 
The 2009 North America Environmental Report details Toyota's efforts in six key areas: Energy and Climate Change, Recycling and Improved Resource Use, Substances of Concern, Air Quality, Environmental Management and Cooperation with Society.
 
“Like many other companies, we faced a difficult business climate over the last year,” said Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America.  “But even with this challenge, we accomplished a great deal. We made reductions in energy consumption, water use and waste generation that will benefit us greatly in the future.  Our commitment to operating in harmony with the environment and our vision for sustainable mobility is as strong as ever.”
 
Below are a few highlights from the 2009 North America Environmental Report:
 
Introduction of the third-generation Prius, with an innovative, optional rooftop‑mounted solar panel and improved fuel efficiency.
Introduction of the Lexus HS 250h, which includes Ecological Plastics in approximately 30% of the combined interior and luggage areas.
Installation of the second-largest solar panel array in the U.S. at the company’s parts center in Ontario, California.
Reduction of 16% in energy consumption at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Installation of water-borne paint systems at the company’s plants in Princeton, Indiana, and Woodstock, Ontario, which lessen emissions of volatile organic compounds.
 
Other accomplishments cited in the report include:
 
Advanced vehicle technologies
 
Toyota has sold more than two million hybrids worldwide since the first Prius was introduced in 1997. The company has a goal to sell one million hybrids a year by mid-next decade and offer a hybrid version of all passenger vehicles by the early 2020s.
Beginning in late 2009, Toyota will start delivery of 500 Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles, powered by first generation lithium-ion batteries, for a global demonstration program.
Toyota announced that it will bring a full electric vehicle (EV) to market in the 2012 time frame.
Fuel cell hybrid vehicle research continues with the University of California’s Irvine and Berkeley campuses as well as New York’s John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.  Toyota aims to bring a fuel cell vehicle to market by 2015. 
 
Operations
 
Energy improvements at Toyota’s U.S. plants have reduced CO2 emissions by almost 150,000 metric tons since the FY2002 base year and saved over $18 million annually.
Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant held a competition to encourage employees to reduce energy consumption throughout the plant. The winning team reduced energy use in the plastics shop by 83% compared to the same period the previous year.
Toyota’s plant in Huntsville, Alabama, was the first Toyota plant and the first business in the area to install a photovoltaic system. The five-kilowatt solar panel generates enough energy to light over 16,000 square feet of floor space.
The Toyota parts center in Ontario, California, installed the second largest single-rooftop solar array in North America. The 2.3 megawatt system is expected to produce more than 3.7 million kilowatt‑hours per year, providing up to 58% of the electricity needed at the facility. The system contains over 10,400 panels and covers a surface area of 242,000 square feet.
Toyota logistics carriers drive over one million miles per day, transporting parts and vehicles across North America. Toyota and its carriers conducted research on improving fuel efficiency of the trucks through aerodynamic improvement equipment such as boat tails and side skirts.  Installing this equipment on 18 long route trucks resulted in a 6% improvement in fuel economy.
 
Partners
 
The Lexus of Las Vegas dealership went from recycling less than 5% by volume of their waste stream to well over 75% and achieved a 97% reduction in the volume of waste sent to landfill.
TogetherGreen, an alliance between Toyota and the National Audubon Society, has produced significant results in its first full year, including $1.4 million in environmental grants, 40 environmental leaderships fellowships, and nearly 43,000 hours of volunteer time to benefit the environment.
 
To view the 2009 North America Environmental Report, please visit our website at: http://www.toyota.com/environmentreport.  This year, for the first time, the full report will only be available electronically, further reducing Toyota’s environmental impact.