He future of automotive It is a real mystery. If you had asked us half a century ago, many would probably have talked about flying cars and autonomous vehicles, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now it seems that electrification is going to be the norm in a few years, although alternative fuels such as hydrogen are also being considered to increase autonomy. Given the infrastructure problems that could exist, Toyota proposes hydrogen cartridges that could be key in the future.
The Japanese brand is one of those that has put the most effort into the hydrogen fuel cell technology. In parallel, it is also working on hydrogen combustion engines that would serve to maintain certain sporty aspects in vehicles, without compromising their efficiency. Although these cartridges that Toyota proposes transcend beyond the automotive industrysince it would have a good number of applications. The key is that hydrogen has no CO2 emissions during its use, while obtaining the fuel is becoming cleaner.
Taking into account that Toyota is using hydrogen both to generate electricity as fuel directly, this solution would make a lot of sense. These are portable cartridges that would contribute to reduce the size and weight of tanks of hydrogen in fuel cell electric vehicles such as the Toyota Mirai. In this way, so many hydrogen stations would not be necessary, since the user could be cautious and buy the necessary cartridges for a trip to carry them and use them whenever needed.
The hydrogen cartridges would work in a similar way to that of alkaline batteries. If we take evolution into account, they could serve to dispense with conventional recharges in some specific situations, but they would not be a definitive solution. Until Toyota gives us more information about this project, which has been presented at the Japan Mobility Show Bizweek, everything will be speculation. They have also confirmed other uses such as hydrogen powered kitchen made jointly with Rinnai Corporation that works with these cartridges.
