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TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. on August 29 said 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 carmaker, which has already won strong interest in its
fuel sipping gasoline-electric hybrids, will lease one of its Toyota
FCHV-adv vehicles to Japan’s environment ministry.
Toyota also plans to lease the five-seat 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 carmakers 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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