irishcar.com

GENEVA 6 March 2002: Already well known for its petrol-powered Prius hybrid motor car, Toyota is now well into real road trials of its fuel cell hybrid, and the FCHV-4 SUV was shown at Geneva.

Five of these vehicles, based on the Highlander SUV, are running in Japan and two more in the US. They use a fuel cell stack which turns hydrogen into electricity to power a 107hp electric motor. A secondary battery stores power to help during acceleration and is recharged by regenerative braking.

The hydrogen is stored in a high-pressure tank under the rear floor. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 150kph and can travel around 250 km on a tank of hydrogen.