TORRANCE, Calif., June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota's first
commercial zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCV)
is coming to the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival. First unveiled in
Japan on Wednesday afternoon, the
vehicle will make its North American debut at the annual conference
on Friday, June 27.
In a press conference in Japan,
company officials revealed the exterior design of the FCV
pre-production prototype. Interior features, along with the
vehicle's name, volume, and full specifications will be released
later. Toyota also announced that the FCV will go on sale in the
Japan domestic market before
April 2015, and then summer 2015 in
Europe and the state of
California. The sedan will be
priced in the Japan domestic
market at approximately 7 million
yen, or at more than $68,000
based on current exchange rates. Pricing in other markets has not
yet been set.
"This is a zero-emission electric-drive, mid-size four-door
sedan," said Bob Carter, senior vice
president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales,
U.S.A. "It produces sufficient
electrical power to spin the electric motor for about 300 miles on
a single fill-up which takes three to five minutes. This is
going to be a very special vehicle. And we believe we can bring it
in at a very reasonable price for a lot of people."
Today's announcement builds on Toyota's existing efforts to
provide customers with access to hydrogen refueling stations when
the vehicle arrives in California.
In May, the company announced a financial relationship with First
Element Fuels to support the long-term operation and maintenance of
19 new hydrogen refueling stations across the state.
"The success of fuel cell technology will depend less on the
genius of the car, than on the ownership experience," said Carter.
"Stay tuned, because this infrastructure thing is going to
happen."
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the
Prius, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live
through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years,
we've built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14
manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than
40,000 people (more than 32,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North
American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.5 million
cars and trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2013 – and
about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years
are still on the road today.
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SOURCE Toyota