The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced plans to increase the number of hydrogen stations for fuel-cell vehicles within its jurisdiction to 35 by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and to 80 by 2025.
"We would like to make a (hydrogen utilization) model first in Tokyo in the run-up to nationwide diffusion," Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe said Tuesday at a meeting of the metropolitan government.
The metropolitan and central governments will provide subsidies to cover ¥400 million of the approximately ¥500 million required to build each hydrogen station.
The metropolitan government will also subsidize FCV purchases in order to increase the number of vehicles in Tokyo to a target of 100,000 by 2025.
The Tokyo plan came as Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday that it will become the first automaker in the world to start selling FCVs.
The Toyota Mirai will go on sale in December with a price tag of more than ¥7 million.
"Metropolitan and central government subsidies could lower the FCV price for a buyer to around ¥4 million," Masuzoe said. "I would like to buy one someday."