Electric propulsion seems to have won the prize for the ultimate alternative to combustion. Manufacturers are in an obstacle course to find the most efficient, lightest, and easiest-to-maintain batteries. We will not talk about the moment of recycling, another of the handicaps of this propulsion that is renewable and completely clean. Toyota, however, has not entered this massive competition, its path has a different objective: Hydrogen.
This technology, which we have already talked about at length in Very Interesting, is the personal bet of the Japanese who democratized hybridization with the Prius. The vehicle is already created, it is the Toyota Mirai. So why have no models been sold in Spain? Simple, they could not be refueled. A process that will already be viable for residents of Madrid since the first high-pressure hydrogeneration was inaugurated at the San Antonio Service Station , on Avenida de Manoteras.
Until now there were five stations where hydrogen could be refueled in Spain but their pressure was insufficient for current models. The hydrogenerators operated at 350 bars and were used for the private use of companies with specific vehicles, since the private user did not require said fuel and the possible cars on the market did not match that pressure either. A situation that changed at the end of January thanks to the collaboration of the companies Enagás, Toyota Spain , Urbaser, Sumitomo Corporatio, the Spanish Confederation of Businessmen of Service Stations and Metallic Carbides. Together they have built the first public access service station with a hydrogen pump at 700 bars of pressure , the power necessary to charge a vehicle like the Toyota Mirai.
The first of many
The introduction of hydrogen as an alternative to traditional combustion will be a palace thing, and it will go slowly. This project was announced in the summer of 2019 and, for various reasons, including the pandemic, it could not be completed until 2021. It is a refueling point that will supply green hydrogen, generated from renewable energies such as wind. By having a pressure of 700 bar / MPA it will be able to fill the tanks of a Mirai in less than five minutes , a process that is like that of CNG (compressed natural gas) and almost identical to that of gasoline or diesel.
The opening of this hydrogeneration opens the ban to make this technology public, demonstrate its viability and start the transition towards its usual use. Today, Toyota has more Mirai enrolled than ever – about 12 in total – for its workers to use. These units must be charged, because there is no other way, in said service station that, eye to the fact, only has space to store 10 kilograms of hydrogen per day. That means that only 2 Toyota Mirai can charge e, something that is not a drama if we take into account that they offer more than 500 kilometers of autonomy .
Is it dangerous to refuel hydrogen?
The news always implies something of fear, distrust or alarm. In this article we talk about the myths of hydrogen and its dangerousness. Many of us think of this gas and imagine vehicles jumping through the air, nothing is further from reality. The reluctance to use this fuel is unfounded and Toyota, more than any other company, is responsible for dismantling them at every step. The Japanese company has been working on this technology for more than 25 years, applying it to other areas of its production chain and all types of vehicles.
The tanks contained in the Toyota Mirai have been subjected to the most demanding endurance tests. What’s more, they have been shot with high-caliber weapons and exposed to unbearable temperatures. If that weren’t enough, the car’s chassis has been reinforced and hydrogen’s own flammability is lower than that of gasoline. Your refueling has been designed with the same care and obsession for safety . This process is almost identical to that of gasoline, with the only difference that we must connect the hose and close it so that there are no leaks. An easy and intuitive act that is carried out by means of a visible and manageable tab.
