Here's Why Japanese Automakers Keep Sending Hydrogen-powered Cars to North America

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

The United States and Canada don’t have much of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure to speak of, but Japanese automakers continue sending fuel cell vehicles across the ocean anyway. Vehicles like the Honda Clarity and Toyota Mirai have been touted as the environmental saviors of tomorrow but, with the exception of California, there really isn’t a place for them in the North America of today. So why do Japanese manufactures continue to bother with hydrogen?

The main reason is because Japan has bought into a future that America doesn’t seem interested in. With three of its automakers already producing fuel cell cars, the government as adopted a fairly aggressive plan to adopt hydrogen for homes, business, and cars by 2030 — meaning the U.S. probably won’t see these vehicles vanish anytime soon.

Japan’s plan calls for a nationwide hydrogen distribution system so expansive that it would eventually reduce vehicle and fuel prices to a point that would make them competitive with their internal combustion counterparts. By 2030, the country wants 900 commercial hydrogen fueling stations attached to a vast network that also feeds powerplants and farms. It hopes to service 40,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2020, 200,000 by 2025, and over 800,000 in 2030.

However, Japan doesn’t have any illusions that the normalization will be easy. “This is a very challenging goal,” said Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief engineer of Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell sedan, in an interview with Automotive News. “But we need to keep pushing ourselves toward the ambitious creation of a hydrogen society.”

Japan only has 1,740 fuel cell vehicles milling around the country at this time. The number serves to show how far the plan has yet to go in the next thirteen years, but it also illustrates how willing the country has been to implement hydrogen-powered cars. After all, the entire world has only managed to purchase roughly 4,000 fuel cell vehicles and Japan owns more than its fair share. It has also produced more and, ideally, wants the rest of the world to buy them.

“This is where Japan is different from other countries,” said Hiroshi Katayama, deputy director for advanced energy systems at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). “I think Japan is in the lead.”

It’s a strong lead too. While Germany and Korea have also seriously invested in fuel cell technology, they’re both playing catch up and neither country seems to have Japan’s willingness to reconfigure its infrastructure. Japan might be an isolated case. Europe has been gradually adopting electric vehicles, but growth has slowed in the last few months and numerous EU-based automakers have even sworn off hydrogen as infeasible. Meanwhile, North America has seen continued growth for zero-emission vehicles in general, but the United States may see its regulators roll back emissions standards in the near future. And, with the exception of a few key regions, neither continent seems interested in adopting a hydrogen network over one that favors plug-in charging.

One possible exception could be China. Asia’s most populous country has adopted more stringent pollution policy in recent years and has taken to electric cars better than its peers. It has also been swift to implement a support network for those vehicles. Toyota said last week that it would begin testing the Mirai in China by October to evaluate the market and promote fuel cell technology. The country’s reaction to HEVs could dictate if we continue to see the technology in the future.

[Image: Eneos]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Brandloyalty Brandloyalty on Apr 24, 2017

    Would you want to be in a building withvan underground parking area full of cars with tanks of hydrogen? What does the insurance industry think of this?

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    • Redmondjp Redmondjp on Apr 25, 2017

      @mcs Google image "honda civic natural gas explosion" to see the pictures of a Honda Civic GX that was engulfed in a fire, which caused the H2 tank to burn and fail in a spectacular manner. I'll take a pure EV any day, any time over something with a 5K or 10K psi storage tank in it.

  • Pbx Pbx on Apr 25, 2017

    Whatever became of the much touted Hydrogen Highway between Los Angeles and Vancouver? Back when Schwarzenegger was Governor this was going to be a big deal.

  • Funky D The problem is not exclusively the cost of the vehicle. The problem is that there are too few use cases for BEVs that couldn't be done by a plug-in hybrid, with the latter having the ability to do long-range trips without requiring lengthy recharging and being better able to function in really cold climates.In our particular case, a plug-in hybrid would run in all electric mode for the vast majority of the miles we would drive on a regular basis. It would also charge faster and the battery replacement should be less expensive than its BEV counterpart.So the answer for me is a polite, but firm NO.
  • 3SpeedAutomatic 2012 Ford Escape V6 FWD at 147k miles:Just went thru a heavy maintenance cycle: full brake job with rotors and drums, replace top & bottom radiator hoses, radiator flush, transmission flush, replace valve cover gaskets (still leaks oil, but not as bad as before), & fan belt. Also, #4 fuel injector locked up. About $4.5k spread over 19 months. Sole means of transportation, so don't mind spending the money for reliability. Was going to replace prior to the above maintenance cycle, but COVID screwed up the market ( $4k markup over sticker including $400 for nitrogen in the tires), so bit the bullet. Now serious about replacing, but waiting for used and/or new car prices to fall a bit more. Have my eye on a particular SUV. Last I checked, had a $2.5k discount with great interest rate (better than my CU) for financing. Will keep on driving Escape as long as A/C works. 🚗🚗🚗
  • Rna65689660 For such a flat surface, why not get smoke tint, Rtint or Rvynil. Starts at $8. I used to use a company called Lamin-x, but I think they are gone. Has held up great.
  • Cprescott A cheaper golf cart will not make me more inclined to screw up my life. I can go 500 plus miles on a tank of gas with my 2016 ICE car that is paid off. I get two weeks out of a tank that takes from start to finish less than 10 minutes to refill. At no point with golf cart technology as we know it can they match what my ICE vehicle can do. Hell no. Absolutely never.
  • Cprescott People do silly things to their cars.
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