Japan's Toyota will increase mass production of fuel cell stacks, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks in an effort to prepare for an expected tenfold increase in sales of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) after 2020, Toyota announced Thursday.
'Toyota sees global sales of fuel cell electric vehicles increasing significantly after 2020, to at least 30,000 per year from today's 3,000.
'To prepare for this growth, the company unveiled plans for two major new facilities today: a brand-new building near its original automobile factory for expanding fuel cell stack mass production, and a new line in an existing plant to manufacture high-pressure hydrogen tanks,” a press release said.
Manufacturing both components at scale is critical to achieving lower system costs and wider availability for further growth and sales of FCEVs, according to the company.
To increase FC stack output, Toyota will move production from its current location, within one of the buildings at its Honsha Plant in Toyota City, to a brand-new, eight-floor high-tech facility on the same premises, near the original site of the company's very first automobile factory from 1938.
The production of high-pressure hydrogen tanks will be handled by a new, dedicated line to be added inside the nearby Shimoyama Plant No. 3 in Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture.
'The new facilities are expected to help significantly reduce CO2 emissions during the production stage,' the statement said, adding this was one of the initiatives for the Plant Zero CO2 Emissions Challenge in the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 announced in October 2015.
Details of the respective facilities will be announced later with a view to start operations around 2020, Toyota said.
The company is also planning to expand FCEV sales both in Japan and overseas.
Mirai, Toyota's mass-produced fuel cell sedan, which was put on the market in December 2014, is currently sold in 11 countries, according to the statement, which said Toyota aimed for annual sales of FCEVs to top 30,000 units globally from around 2020.
'Toyota is working to develop an environment that will allow FCEVs to be sold in more countries and regions in the future. As part of this, demonstration tests of Mirai are currently under way in Australia, Canada, China, and the U.A.E., and Toyota is examining demand for FCEVs while continuing to help with initiatives to promote hydrogen infrastructure development,' it added.
Toyota also aims to boost domestic sales up to at least 1,000 FCEV units per month and over 10,000 units annually from 2020 onwards.
'Sales regions within Japan will be expanded further from the current four major metropolitan areas to allow even more customers to enjoy Mirai,' it said.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr