When it comes to hydrogen energy, everyone immediately thinks of Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Toyota is leading the way in hydrogen fuel cell research and development.
For example, during the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Toyota will use the FCEV "Mirai II" and "Costa Hydrogen Engine" on a large scale. In addition, the Winter Olympics will use about 200 Beiqi Foton hydrogen fuel cell buses equipped with Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell system.
But over the past year, Toyota has been very serious about developing an alternative hydrogen fuel technology in Japan — using hydrogen-burning internal combustion engine racing cars to compete in high-endurance races in japan.
Here's what kind of technology this is. Fuel cells (FCs) used in vehicles such as the Toyota MIRAI drive electric motors by chemically reacting hydrogen with oxygen in the air to generate electricity.
The hydrogen fuel engines participating in the competition are based on ordinary gasoline engines, changing the fuel supply system and injection system to generate power by burning hydrogen. This process does not produce carbon dioxide during driving, except for the extremely trace amount of oil combustion components that occur.
What are the benefits of burning hydrogen directly with an internal combustion engine? Compared with car engines, hydrogen burns faster than gasoline, is responsive, has excellent environmental performance, and can also realize the "pleasure of handling the car" including the sound and vibration of the car.
Toyota's hydrogen-burning racing car is not just talking, but it is very seriously executed, and Akio Toyoda personally drives.
In mid-last year, Toyota suddenly announced that its ROOKIE Racing team will start from the fuji SUPER TEC 24 Hours Race, the third leg of the 2021 Japan Super Endurance Race, and retire the still improved fuel race car GR YARiS and compete in COROLLA Sports with hydrogen fuel engines, that is, the Corolla Sport.
The hydrogen-powered COROLLA Sports race car is powered by a 1618cc inline 3-cylinder turbocharged engine powered by compressed hydrogen.
In the first stop, the Fuji International Circuit 24 Hours Endurance Race, its power output will be inferior to that of fuel vehicles, but by the third stop, Suzuka Circuit, the output is close to the griya YaRiS level of fuel mass production.
And one of the drivers of COROLLA Sports was MORIZO, who put a lot of pressure on the Toyota team engineer position. Because Morizo is Akio Toyoda, this is the special name for his racing driver status.
In June, MORIZO drove a hydrogen-fueled race car in Fujido, Japan, to complete a 1,634-kilometer endurance race that was dubbed a "historic race" by the media. At the third stop, suzuka circuit, the No. 32 COROLLA race car successfully ran 90 laps, with a total distance of 522.28km.
In the end, toyota hydrogen-powered team won the ST-Q class championship, fulfilling the desire of MORIZO riders to "participate in the ST-Q class award ceremony".
However, Toyota's operation is confusing, on the one hand, it strives to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology, on the other hand, it uses internal combustion engines to directly burn hydrogen to participate in the competition. And the internal combustion engine burning hydrogen is not a new technology, is this a new energy?
Toyota's view also seems to have a little truth: whether it is new energy and zero emissions depends on whether the way you get energy is environmentally friendly.
Assuming that the source of electricity for BEV pure electric vehicles is thermal power, it cannot be regarded as clean energy. If hydrogen fuel is obtained in a renewable way and combustion emissions are zero, should it be considered clean energy?
Image source: Toyota
For example, on the second leg of the race, Toyota tested "manufacturing", and the hydrogen energy used in the race was produced by geothermal power generation. The third station tested "transportation": hydrogen energy was made from lignite in Australia, then transported by air, and trucks powered by hydrogen or biofuels were used when transported on the road.
There is also the speed of hydrogenation: the first time at Fuji, Toyota took 5 minutes to refuel; at Suzuka Circuit, the hydrogen refueling time was shortened to 2 minutes.
Although this is a high-cost, no-business-worthy move. But through the well-known racing races, Toyota has played a good role in promoting hydrogen fuel technology. Technology has also been upgraded in the production and transportation of green hydrogen.
The question is, is there a future in the way that hydrogen is burned with an internal combustion engine? In fact, BMW has tried 18 years ago.
The 2004 BMW H2R hydrogen-powered race car, the first of a new type of car dedicated to liquid hydrogen fuel, was developed in just 10 months before it set nine international speed records at the Miramas Proving Ground in France.
The H2R was equipped with a 6.0L V12 engine developed from the BMW 760Li at that time, and had bmw's most advanced Valvetronic and Double-VANOS technology at that time. But at the time, the hydrogen-burning engine could only produce 232 horsepower, reaching a record-breaking top speed of 300.175 km/h.
But in the end, BMW's "hydrogen power" still failed, burning hydrogen is not the right direction for hydrogen power, hydrogen fuel cells are.