Toyotas are the future of fun.
AkioToyoda is a cool car executive. You don’t believe me? Maybe his career as a racer for Toyotas will make you reconsider, or the fact that he has vowed that Toyota will be more exciting. This decision has resulted in many performance models being returned to Toyota showrooms. He will be racing a Toyota Corolla powered by hydrogen at Suzuka, his latest act of being cool.
Toyota is working towards a carbon neutral society in which cars don’t emit any emissions. This strategy includes accepting hydrogen fuel, which will need to pass a few hurdles before mainstream consumers can accept it. Motorsports is the best place to push new car tech.
What does it take to build a Toyota Corolla racecar powered by hydrogen? It was actually quite simple. The mechanical parts are not only required to construct a race car safely, but they are also quite common. Toyota Corolla has a modified version of the 1.6-liter inline-3-cylinder engine from the GR Yaris. Toyota had to modify simple things such as the fuel delivery system or ignition system. The Toyota Corolla also has four hydrogen fuel tanks that are pressurized. These were lifted from the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen-powered consumer sedan.
It’s amazing how normal the hydrogen-powered engine sounds. It’s almost identical to the rest of the grid using traditional fossil fuels. The hydrogen-powered race car makes hydrogen more useful in everyday life, especially when the cars that result are as fast and engaging.
A few races have been taken by the Toyota Corolla Hydrogen racecar. Every race sees improvements to the powertrain and speed for pit stop refueling. The current version of the race car is hydrogen-powered and Toyota’s President has agreed to drive it at race speed, which is a great sign for the future.