Many automakers have shifted to electric vehicles in order to reduce CO2 emissions, but Toyota refuses to abandon their internal combustion engines.
Alternatives to fossil fuels and electric cars must exist, according to Toyota Motors President Akio Toyoda.
“Also, carbon, not internal combustion engines, is the enemy,” he added. “We shouldn’t limit ourselves to one choice.”
“Given the many technologies we’ve employed thus far, I believe there’s a way to use combustion engines in a climate-neutral manner and even further improve them.”
Six major automakers, including General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, promised to abolish the use of fossil fuels in automobiles by 2040 during the UN climate meeting, COP 26.
Toyota aims to provide 15 electric vehicles by 2025, but it is not one of them.
Instead, the Japanese carmaker is attempting to develop hydrogen-powered automobiles.
This is how it works and why it is environmentally friendly: Enough energy is generated by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and ambient oxygen to power the automobile. Water leaking from the back of the car is the sole by-product.
However, hydrogen filling stations are few and far between, and many other automakers haven’t given the hydrogen internal combustion engine a second thought.
Toyota owns over 5,000 patents on hydrogen fuel cell technology, which it is licensing to other manufacturers for no fee in order to encourage the use of this alternative fuel.
Because the issue is not one of competitiveness, but rather one of environmental conservation.
