Toyota Motor Corp. has long held out hydrogen as the ultimate alternative to gasoline for powering automobiles. Soon, consumers will be able to kick the tires of its fuel-cell car and those of other automakers.
To demonstrate how far hydrogen cars have come since the early 2000s, Toyota offered test drives of a small, prototype sedan in Japan this week. A similar vehicle with a different exterior will debut at next month's Tokyo Motor Show. The car, which showed quick acceleration and sharp handling, will arrive in the United States, Japan and Europe as early as next year as a 2015 model.
"Earlier would have been better, but it's taken a long time to get to this point," said Satoshi Ogiso, the Toyota engineer managing its fuel-cell development and electric-drive vehicle programs, in an interview in Tokyo Thursday. "We've already started work on the next-generation vehicle. We can't wait."