Toyota Motor has unveiled a new version of its hydrogen-powered Sora fuel cell bus, in partnership with Isuzu Motors.
The vehicle, which pairs a bus platform created by Isuzu with Toyota’s fuel cell system, can cruise for more than 300km, about 100 km more than the previous model.
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Toyota has offered the Sora since 2018.
Four variants with different seat layouts are offered: two for urban routes and two for suburban routes.
According to the company, a complete hydrogen refill takes about 10 minutes.
The urban version is 10.545m long, 2.485m wide and 3.44m high, with room for 70 people.
It has a polymer electrolyte membrane FC stack rated at 113 kW and an AC induction motor producing up to 220 kW and 970 Nm of torque.
The new bus places Toyota’s FC system on Isuzu’s battery electric vehicle (BEV) full-flat route bus platform.
It uses a compact FC stack made for commercial vehicles, which offers “increased output and durability”, and a newly developed large-capacity hydrogen tank.
Toyota said mounting the FC system on the roof makes maintenance easier for operators.
Safety features include an Emergency Driver Stop System (EDSS) connected to a Driver Status Monitor (DSM).
If a problem with the driver is detected, the bus decelerates to a stop, and the parking brake engages automatically.
A front blind spot monitor also warns the driver of pedestrians and bicycles ahead.
Toyota’s first fuel cell electric vehicle, the Mirai, launched in 2014 and has been sold in more than 30 countries and regions.
Since 2019, the company has also supplied more than 3,500 FC systems to over 100 customers worldwide.
Last month, Toyota and Swedish truckmaker Scania formed a partnership to test hydrogen fuel cell technology in heavy-duty transport.
