The Toyota FC Bus is a

transit bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...

with an electric motor powered by hydrogen fuel cells produced by

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, developed in cooperation with

Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpora ...

. The bus uses components originally developed for the

Toyota Mirai The (from , Japanese for 'future') is a mid-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) manufactured by Toyota, and is the first FCV to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The Mirai was unveiled at the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. , glob ...

, a mid-size fuel cell sedan. Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst, the by-product of which is water. Hydrogen is stored in carbon and glass fiber tanks and oxygen is taken from the air. The FC Bus is equipped with a power supply system for external receivers with a maximum power of 9 kW, which provides a maximum of 235 kWh of energy. Fuel cells are the source of energy. The purpose of this installation was to put an emergency power source for use in the city in the event of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or tsunami. The bus was replaced by the Toyota Sora in 2018.

History

Japan's first hydrogen fuel cell bus - the Toyota FCHV-BUS - was demonstrated in the early 2000s, and was used during

Expo 2005 Expo 2005 was a world expo held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka (World Expo), Expo '75 Okinawa (Specialised Expo) ...

. In July 2015, Toyota tested a prototype fuel cell bus on bus routes in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The prototype was developed in cooperation with Hino Motors, on the basis of the Hino hybrid bus and the Toyota Mirai fuel cell system. The bus was also lent to

Meitetsu Bus is a bus company in the Meitetsu Group. Bus Lines Highway Buses *Chuo Highway Bus **Meitetsu BC - Shinjuku **Meitetsu BC - Iida **Meitetsu BC - Ina, Komagane, Minowa **Meitetsu BC - Matsumoto **Meitetsu BC - Nagano **Meitetsu BC - ...

for free, as a demonstration that fuel cell buses were practical. In February 2017, Toyota began selling the FC Bus. The first copy was purchased by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Transport Office and was included in the Tokyo city bus network in March 2017. By 2020, Toyota supplied the Tokyo authorities with more than 100 Toyota FC Bus buses. This is part of the plan to promote the automotive industry using fuel cells at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

References

{{Reflist Buses of Japan Electric buses FC Bus Fuel cell buses

History

See also

References