Japanese brands Toyota, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha have long been pioneers and leaders in the transportation industry. Particularly known for leading the hydrogen fuel-cell engine revolution, these brands have been testaments to forward-thinking technology in pursuit of a carbon-neutral world. These four brands have now decided to team up to form an unlikely alliance in order to ensure that the future of the planet remains their top priority.
Pushing collaboration to achieve carbon-neutrality
Japanese brands teaming up with competitors has been a slow trend seen in the automobile industry. Toyota in particular has been vocal about their prioritization of collaboration over competition in order to pool resources and expertise to accelerate the world’s adaption to alternative engine solutions. With offerings of both advanced electrical and hydrogen fuel-cell engines, the company is teaming up with others in order to push their models to the next level.
“We are collaborating with companies that would traditionally have been our competition to develop standards for hydrogen fueling connections and protocols, recognizing that an industry standard was of greater benefit than our own competitive advantage,” said Jay Sackett, Toyota’s chief engineer of advanced mobility, according to a Toyota press release.
As part of their collaborative approach, they have not only teamed up with other Japanese automobile developers but have also gone international. It was recently announced that Toyota would be working together with German automobile developer BMW in order to assist the company with developing their first hydrogen-fuel cell powered vehicle and have it on the road for consumers by 2028.
While many automobile companies, BMW included, have focused on the development of electrical engine solutions, Toyota has continued to provide diverse options for consumers in order to remain competitive and to fill gaps in the transportation industry where the electrical engine falls short and to encourage other developers to embrace multiple avenues to achieve sustainability.
These Japanese brands team up
In addition to Toyota’s collaborations, these other Japanese brands have also been looking at how a more collaborative approach can produce more advanced and carbon-neutral technology than ever seen before. Two years ago, the Japanese so-called ‘Big Four’ of the motorcycle world- Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki- teamed up in order to produce a hydrogen-powered motorcycle. This technology is carbon-neutral, with its only byproduct being water.
The four brands came together to form a technological research hub, dubbed HySE, in order to design and produce a hydrogen-powered engine for small mobility by combining their R&D power. The unit has three main research objectives, with each engine producer assigned a particular role:
To research hydrogen-powered engines (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki Motors)
To study hydrogen refueling system (Yamaha)
To study fuel supply system (Kawasaki Motors)
A world without the internal combustion engine?
While their has been criticism from some in the scientific community regarding the continued push of hydrogen-engine developments over electrical engine solutions, it is to be noted that all these solutions are intended to envision a world where we may no longer see the internal combustion engine on the road. However, with these engines still pulling in the overwhelming majority of vehicle sales, it is difficult to imagine alternative engine solutions becoming the norm.
However, Norway has emerged as offering a beacon of hope towards envisioning a future where we may no longer see the internal combustion engine. Last year, the country saw 89% of their new vehicle sales be fully-electric cars, with the country hoping to push this number to 100% by the end of this year. This feat has been possible not only thanks the advanced technological capabilities of automobile developers but also due to governments providing support to assist with the switch.
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AloJapan.com