Toyota is one of several carmakers convinced that there’s no single zero-emissions solution to the world’s clean fuel quest. While some rivals are throwing all their efforts behind electric power, Toyota is developing both hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen-powered combustion engines alongside EVs and hybrids. We’ve already read about Toyota’s racing exploits with a hydrogen-fuelled GR Corolla and now the carmaker has transplanted that tech into a more practical five-seat SUV to create the Toyota Corolla Cross H2 hydrogen concept.
The prototype features a hydrogen tank
from Toyota’s Mirai sedan. But where the Mirai is a fuel cell vehicle that
turns hydrogen into electricity, this concept uses a conventional combustion
engine adapted to run on hydrogen instead of gasoline. The engine is the
1.6-liter turbocharged triple from the hot GR Corolla, whose power Toyota was
able to increase by 24 percent during the course of the Super Taikyu racing
season, eventually matching the 300 hp of a gas-powered GR Corolla.
The Cross concept even has a six-speed manual transmission, just like the hot
hatch.
Toyota doesn’t mention any performance
figures for the hydrogen Cross, but based on the hatch’s 5-second to 97
km/h numbers, we’d guess the heavier SUV should still be good for 6 seconds,
which would make it a pretty stealthy family crossover if it ever made it to
production.
As yet there’s no date for that event,
Toyota claiming it is “around 40 percent” along the path to putting vehicles
like the H2 Corolla Cross in showrooms. But the company clearly believes
hydrogen has a future, highlighting its quick refueling times and the fact
that, unlike EVs, hydrogen-powered combustion cars don’t rely on materials like
lithium and nickel, which can leave the planet in a mess when they’re mined.
