Hydrogen

Honda has withdrawn its sole electric vehicle (EV) offering – the Clarity, which is also sold as a plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicle – from the United States market after only three years of sale in the region. The Clarity name will continue but with a plug-in electric variant and hydrogen-powered variant – the latter only available in California. According to a report from Statist, there were approximately 245,000 full-electric vehicles sold in the United States in 2019.

Toyota Australia (TMCA) is engaged in trials with the first-generation hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Mirai, and with that in mind is “most certainly looking” at launching the more aesthetic second-gen model. Revealed publicly for the first time as a near-road-ready ‘concept’ in Tokyo last week, the new five-metre-long Mirai is a huge step-change over its high-tech, but frumpy, predecessor.

Toyota has handed down a first look at its next-generation 2020 Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV), ahead of this month's Tokyo motor show. Continuing Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda's mandate for a more emotionally-inspired design theme across the brand's model lines, the new concept boasts a look that is sportier and more imposing in its proportions than the quirky futuristic look of the current Mirai.

South Korea is seemingly set to require commercial vehicles in the country – including trucks and construction equipment – to use hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrains by 2035. The move is designed to counter “serious fine dust problems” in the country not helped by diesel emissions, according to The Korea Herald. The plan was apparently released by Transport Minister-nominee Choi Jeong-ho and Yoon Kwan-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

Toyota Australia (TMCA) is aiming for one-in-five of all vehicles it sells to be fuel-saving petrol-electric hybrid cars, within a time frame of just two years. Based on current sales volumes, this equates to about 42,000 sales of Toyota hybrid cars in 2020, figures that seemed scarcely plausible even a few years ago given Australia’s slow take-up of environmentally friendly cars.