19 June 2001: Toyota has developed two new fuel cell hybrid vehicles - a 63-seater bus and a passenger car - which promise to be three times as efficient as conventional petrol-powered vehicles.
The news comes just days after Toyota unveiled its new four-wheel-drive Estima (Previa) Hybrid MPV for the Japanese market.
The low-floor city bus is powered by a high-pressure hydrogen fuel cell hybrid system, has a cruising range of 300 km and can reach a top speed of 80 km/h. The system includes secondary batteries to store energy while braking. It also has roof-mounted high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks and a high-performance fuel cell stack.
The FCHV-4 passenger car can reach 150 km/h, and has a range of 250 km.
Toyota is attempting to meet Japanese 2010 car emissions standards for passenger vehicles by 2005. Some 34 percent of Toyota's vehicles currently meet those standards.
Last Friday, Toyota said it aimed to boost output of environmentally-friendly hybrid-powered vehicles to 300,000 in 2005, up from 19,000 in 2000.
June 2001