Toyota FCV rallies to the hydrogen cause as zero car

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Japan, Toyota, Electric, Racing



It's been two decades since Toyota dominated the World Rally Championship with its Celica Turbo 4WD. But this past weekend, Toyota hit the rally stage in a very different vehicle.

That, as you can see, is the Japanese automaker's Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV), which is still in its prototype phase. We're still at least half a year away from seeing the FCV in production trim, but the model has already been pressed into duty as the "zero car" at the Shinshiro Rally, the last round of the Japanese Rally Championship.

The zero car, for those unfamiliar, is to rally what a pace or safety car is to circuit racing, driving the rally stage to check for signs of trouble before the competitors put their feet to the floor, so it's not as if the FCV needed extensive modifications. From the looks of things, it just needed some jazzy stripes, mud flaps, probably different rolling stock and an interior with racing buckets and harnesses, roll cage, radio equipment and maybe a bit more ground clearance.

Still, seeing a hydrogen-powered car running a rally stage must have been an unusual sight for the spectators in Aichi Prefecture. They'll have to wait until next April to see a production car on the road, while those of us in the US and Europe are expected to get them next summer.Continue reading Toyota FCV rallies to the hydrogen cause as zero car

Toyota FCV rallies to the hydrogen cause as zero car originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Nov 2014 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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