Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced on Tuesday that it will soon lease six units of its hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid vehicle (FCHV) to two local governments and four private companies as part of the limited marketing programme which was launched in December 2002.
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TMC recently reached agreements with Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya City, Iwatani International Corporation, Nippon Oil Corporation, Tokyo Gas Co. and Toho Gas Co. for the first lease ever of fuel cell vehicles in Japan to local government bodies or private enterprises. This will increase to 12 the number of Toyota FCHVs marketed so far, with 10 in Japan and two in the United States.
From the start of its fuel cell vehicle effort in 1992, TMC has constantly pursued development of its own fuel cell stack, the core component of any fuel cell vehicle. The FCHV is an advanced model with enhanced reliability and durability based on the FCHV-4 prototype, units of which have accumulated approximately 130,000 kilometres in trial runs, both on test tracks and public roads. By applying hybrid technologies, the FCHV finely regulates power flow from the fuel cell stack and hybrid (secondary) battery to achieve claimed high efficiency and luxury car-like driving performance.
Last year, Toyota’s FCHV become the first-ever market-ready fuel cell vehicle to be certified by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, making limited marketing possible. TMC has already leased four vehicles in Japan (to the Cabinet Secretariat; the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation and the Ministry of the Environment) and two in the US (to the University of California, Irvine and Davis campuses). TMC plans to lease a total of about 20 units in Japan and the US by the end of this year, and is continuing with vehicle development and the creation of a vehicle support system.
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