Andy Holloway
POSTMEDIA
2/22/2021
First all-Canadian zero-emissions concept vehicle a response to PM’s innovation call
“There’s a growing tide across the country with the provinces and the federal government being interested in developing the hydrogen economy,” Beatty says, adding Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are also moving forward and B.C. is already well-entrenched. “I think the infrastructure issues will be taken care of in due course.
That leaves just questions about the cars themselves. Initially, there were issues about the reliability of hydrogen cars in cold weather, but those have been addressed. Toyota has even cold-tested the Mirai in the Northwest Territories. Aside from running on hydrogen, the Mirai looks and handles like pretty much any other car. “We think we’ve got something that replicates the experience of what people are used to in the conventional automobile,” Beatty says. “The difference is it’s pretty quiet, it’s got good power, and all that comes out of the tailpipe is water.” FPM
© Provided by Financial Post oyota Motor Inc.’s Mirai was initially available in Japan and was brought to Canada, specifically Quebec, in 2018. It’s now also available in lower British Columbia.
With or without Joe Biden’s presidential demand to green America’s fleet of automobiles, electric vehicles are here to stay and, eventually, most gas-powered cars will hit the road for one last stop at the junkyard.
That doesn’t mean we’ll all be driving a Tesla or even a hybrid Prius tomorrow. It doesn’t even necessarily mean we’ll be driving electric cars. For one thing, you can only go 400 kilometres or so before needing a charge of 30 to 60 minutes to continue on your way. Good luck getting around outside the city, since the charging infrastructure has been slow in arriving. Gas still tops electric in almost every way, save the environment.
But the idea of a hydrogen car has been making the rounds again and it’s worth another look. Hydrogen cars weigh less, can travel for up to 500 kilometres before refuelling, which only takes a few minutes, and the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association notes their environmental footprint of 2.7 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre tops the 20.9 grams for electric cars.
Hydrogen cars aren’t exactly new, since they date back to 1807 when Swiss inventor Francois Isaac de Rivaz created a four-wheel vehicle powered by hydrogen and oxygen. And Canadian companies such as Ballard Power Systems Inc. and Hydrogenics, now a division of American giant Cummins Inc., began developing and commercializing hydrogen fuel cell technology years ago. But it wasn’t until 2014 that the first dedicated mass-produced fuel cell vehicle (FCV) was launched. Toyota Motor Inc.’s Mirai was initially available in Japan and was brought to Canada, specifically Quebec, in 2018. It’s now also available in lower British Columbia, but hasn’t made its way elsewhere yet because of the need for hydrogen refuelling stations. Other hydrogen cars available in Canada include the Hyundai Nexo and Honda Clarity.
“We are headed toward an energy revolution that will electrify the powertrain in vehicles,” says Stephen Beatty, vice-president of corporate at Toyota Canada Inc. “What I think is not really well understood at the moment is that it’s not going to take a single form. It’s going to be several different types of technologies that are best suited for a particular duty cycle and a particular customer.”
For example, electric cars are fine for tooling around close to home, provided you have some place to plug it in on your property, but less useful if you’re going, say, camping, since the cars also tend to be small. Hybrids are obviously one step better in terms of convenience, because good old-fashioned gas kicks in when the battery dies. Hydrogen, meanwhile, is a better way to greenify long-distance travel, such as that done by heavy-duty transport trucks and rental cars; the vehicles can be much bigger than electric and refuelling doesn’t take as long.
The key, of course, is building out the infrastructure so that there are refuelling stations along the major transportation corridors. If that happens, Research and Markets estimates that 6.5 million hydrogen cars could be sold by 2032, compared to just 18,000 in 2019. Various Canadian governments are certainly interested in doing their part to make that happen. The federal government in December released its Hydrogen Strategy: Seizing the Opportunities report, which predicted that a homegrown hydrogen industry could employ 350,000 Canadians and generate $50 billion in revenue. That would help reduce the pain of the declining oil and gas industry, which in 2016 directly and indirectly employed about 550,000 Canadians and generated $41.6 billion in revenue.
With or without Joe Biden’s presidential demand to green America’s fleet of automobiles, electric vehicles are here to stay and, eventually, most gas-powered cars will hit the road for one last stop at the junkyard.
That doesn’t mean we’ll all be driving a Tesla or even a hybrid Prius tomorrow. It doesn’t even necessarily mean we’ll be driving electric cars. For one thing, you can only go 400 kilometres or so before needing a charge of 30 to 60 minutes to continue on your way. Good luck getting around outside the city, since the charging infrastructure has been slow in arriving. Gas still tops electric in almost every way, save the environment.
But the idea of a hydrogen car has been making the rounds again and it’s worth another look. Hydrogen cars weigh less, can travel for up to 500 kilometres before refuelling, which only takes a few minutes, and the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association notes their environmental footprint of 2.7 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre tops the 20.9 grams for electric cars.
Hydrogen cars aren’t exactly new, since they date back to 1807 when Swiss inventor Francois Isaac de Rivaz created a four-wheel vehicle powered by hydrogen and oxygen. And Canadian companies such as Ballard Power Systems Inc. and Hydrogenics, now a division of American giant Cummins Inc., began developing and commercializing hydrogen fuel cell technology years ago. But it wasn’t until 2014 that the first dedicated mass-produced fuel cell vehicle (FCV) was launched. Toyota Motor Inc.’s Mirai was initially available in Japan and was brought to Canada, specifically Quebec, in 2018. It’s now also available in lower British Columbia, but hasn’t made its way elsewhere yet because of the need for hydrogen refuelling stations. Other hydrogen cars available in Canada include the Hyundai Nexo and Honda Clarity.
“We are headed toward an energy revolution that will electrify the powertrain in vehicles,” says Stephen Beatty, vice-president of corporate at Toyota Canada Inc. “What I think is not really well understood at the moment is that it’s not going to take a single form. It’s going to be several different types of technologies that are best suited for a particular duty cycle and a particular customer.”
For example, electric cars are fine for tooling around close to home, provided you have some place to plug it in on your property, but less useful if you’re going, say, camping, since the cars also tend to be small. Hybrids are obviously one step better in terms of convenience, because good old-fashioned gas kicks in when the battery dies. Hydrogen, meanwhile, is a better way to greenify long-distance travel, such as that done by heavy-duty transport trucks and rental cars; the vehicles can be much bigger than electric and refuelling doesn’t take as long.
The key, of course, is building out the infrastructure so that there are refuelling stations along the major transportation corridors. If that happens, Research and Markets estimates that 6.5 million hydrogen cars could be sold by 2032, compared to just 18,000 in 2019. Various Canadian governments are certainly interested in doing their part to make that happen. The federal government in December released its Hydrogen Strategy: Seizing the Opportunities report, which predicted that a homegrown hydrogen industry could employ 350,000 Canadians and generate $50 billion in revenue. That would help reduce the pain of the declining oil and gas industry, which in 2016 directly and indirectly employed about 550,000 Canadians and generated $41.6 billion in revenue.
First all-Canadian zero-emissions concept vehicle a response to PM’s innovation call
“There’s a growing tide across the country with the provinces and the federal government being interested in developing the hydrogen economy,” Beatty says, adding Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are also moving forward and B.C. is already well-entrenched. “I think the infrastructure issues will be taken care of in due course.
That leaves just questions about the cars themselves. Initially, there were issues about the reliability of hydrogen cars in cold weather, but those have been addressed. Toyota has even cold-tested the Mirai in the Northwest Territories. Aside from running on hydrogen, the Mirai looks and handles like pretty much any other car. “We think we’ve got something that replicates the experience of what people are used to in the conventional automobile,” Beatty says. “The difference is it’s pretty quiet, it’s got good power, and all that comes out of the tailpipe is water.” FPM
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