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TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that it will
start leasing its new fuel cell hybrid next month as part of its
efforts to encourage the widespread use of the zero-emission
vehicles.
Japan’s top automaker, which
has already won strong interest in its fuel sipping petrol-electric
hybrids, will lease one of its Toyota FCHV-adv vehicles to Japan’s
environment ministry.
Toyota also plans to lease the
five-seat sporty vehicle to local governments and companies in, or
linked to, the energy industry.
The vehicle runs on hydrogen and
uses hybrid technology to reduce fuel consumption. It has a longer
cruising distance and performs better in low temperatures compared
with its predecessor.
Japanese automakers are in a race
to produce fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles amid
soaring prices at the pump, spreading their bets on an array of
technology including hybrid, electric and fuel cell automobiles.
Honda Motor Co. began producing a
next-generation fuel cell vehicle in June and plans to deliver about
200 on lease in the US and Japan in the first three years of
production.
Fuel cell vehicles belch out none
of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, but their high
cost and a lack of hydrogen refueling stations pose obstacles to
mainstream use.
--AFP
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