Japanese auto manufacturers Toyota, Subaru, Yamaha, and Mazda, have announced that they will collaborate to further explore alternate fuels for internal combustion engine cars. They will be joined by Yamaha Motor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
The vehicle manufacturers made the joint announcement at the Super Taikyu Race in Okayama in Japan, where Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda is driving a hydrogen-powered race car.
The announcement comes after the Japanese vehicle makers were notably absent from a list of manufacturers who have pledged to phase out the production of fossil fuel vehicles by 2040. The plans, however, are said to be in addition to advancing electrification but they will center on offering customers greater choice while retaining the use of internal combustion engines.
A Three-Pronged Plan
Mazda’s Bio-diesel powered Demio
With an aim to achieve carbon neutrality, the companies announced that they would unite and pursue three initiatives. Firstly, they will participate in races using carbon-neutral fuels, with Mazda revealing that they will be using a 1.5-liter Skyactiv-D engine fueled with next-generation biodiesel in the ST-Q class of the Super Taikyu Race in Okayama. Meanwhile, Toyota and Subaru will also be racing in the same series next year with biomass-derived synthetic fuel powering Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR-86-based race cars.
The second element of the collaboration is to explore the use of hydrogen engines in two-wheeled and other vehicles headed by Kawasaki and Yamaha. Kawasaki has built a world-first liquified hydrogen carrier and is currently conducting verification tests for transporting large-quantity, low-cost hydrogen to Japan produced from Australian lignite. Yamaha, along with Kawasaki, is developing hydrogen-powered engine tech for use in two-wheelers and Yamaha’s four-wheeled recreational vehicles, and Honda and Suzuki will join both companies for further hydrogen two-wheeled vehicle development.
Read: Some Parts Of The World Still Aren’t Ready For Electric Vehicles Says Toyota
The final aspect highlighted in the announcement is the continued use of hydrogen engines in motorsport. Toyota, Yamaha, and Denso have been working since 2016 to develop a hydrogen engine for this purpose and have entered a vehicle with this under-development engine in three races so far. Toyota plans to compete in the Super Taikyu Race with Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda taking stints at the wheel in his “Morizo” driver persona.
The companies also outlined their plans to tackle several other challenges, including transportation, use, and the production of alternate fuels. While Mazda aims to achieve 100 percent electrification by 2030, they are yet to announce an all-out switch to EVs. The same is true of Toyota, which will introduce seven fully electric members to their bZ family but has said that electric vehicles don’t make sense for some regions of the world.