TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Toyota Motor Corp. plans to electrify every vehicle in its lineup by 2025 with some type of hybrid option, but believes battery electric vehicles alone are not the answer.
Toyota is betting heavily on a future of cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells that emit only water vapor.
"We believe hydrogen fuel cell technology is the best clean energy that can be carried on board a vehicle," Andrew Lund, Toyota chief engineer, product development office, said Tuesday at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars. "There's a role for BEV, but there's also a role for hydrogen."
Lund said that developing and refining the fuel cells is a zero-emissions process, and that fuel cells don't require heavy batteries that take a long time to recharge. He said they also present better options for commercial businesses such as trucking.
On the opening day of the seminars, Toyota announced a second-generation hydrogen fuel cell semi-truck that has a range of more than 300 miles and runs virtually noiselessly. It follows the first fuel-cell semi that Toyota introduced in April 2017 and has tested for roughly 10,000 miles.
Toyota has said it wants to eliminate CO2 emissions from its Toyota Logistics facility at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., by 2050.
The automaker also plans to run hydrogen fuel cell buses during the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
The automaker is bullish on hydrogen fuel cell sales, estimating that 30,000 vehicles will be sold per year after 2020. It launched the Mirai fuel cell vehicle in the U.S. in late 2015.
However, infrastructure continues to be a challenge. Lund believes it can be overcome as more fueling stations are built.
Toyota opened 35 fuel cell stations in California with plans for 29 more. It's working with a partner to set up 12 fueling stations in the Northeast. The first, in Boston, is expected to open this year.
"The pressure will come off as more stations come online," he said. "It's just a matter of will."