Toyota Motor Corporation

06/15/2021 | Press release | Archived content

Is Manufacturing Past its Prime? Toyota Chief Production Officer Says 'No'

Next, I would like to touch on how the much talked about hydrogen-powered engine was created through a combination of steady challenges.

Replacing gasoline with hydrogen gave rise to various difficulties. The engine engineers and prototype technicians worked hard to overcome those difficulties one by one.

Hydrogen tanks require a completely different level of safety than is needed in the case of gasoline. The injectors, which are parts used to inject gasoline into the cylinders of a gasoline engine, were of no use as they were. These are just a couple of examples of the obstacles that stood in the way. Such obstacles were overcome through the strengths of manufacturing.

We were also supported by our suppliers. The technology that had been cultivated in machining engine parts was applied to achieve micron-level hole drilling by way of special machining.

For fuel injectors, we used materials and machining technology to overcome the challenges that arise when gasoline, a liquid, is replaced by hydrogen, a gas.

Next are the challenges that were faced within Toyota.

Machining technology for 'building in'fuel efficiency, electric motor assembly technology for creating a high level of efficiency, and hydrogen tank manufacturing technology for ensuring safety were all originally developed by refining their respective power units and accumulating the related know-how.

And through these challenges and efforts, the hydrogen-powered engine was created by combining FCEV and engine manufacturing technologies.

President Toyoda, a.k.a. Morizo, drove in a 24-hour endurance race in the hydrogen-powered car created in this way and was able to demonstrate to the world the potential of the hydrogen engine.

By expanding the options for electrified vehicles, Toyota has opened the door to the possibility of making customers who need engines smile and protecting the jobs of the people who make engines, while achieving carbon neutrality.

It can be said that this has opened the door to possibilities not only for cars but for all vehicles and equipment with internal combustion engines and devices that involve combustion, in other words, the whole of industry.