The Toyota FC Bus is a

transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

with an electric motor powered by hydrogen fuel cells produced by

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, 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 corpo ...

. The bus uses components originally developed for the Toyota Mirai, 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 The Toyota FCHV is a current hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development programme of the Toyota Motor Corporation, which was leased to a limited number of drivers in the United States and Japan beginning in 2002. "FCHV" stands for "Fuel Ce ...

- 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 (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. 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 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