Around two-and-a-half years after announcing that it would build a “hydrogen mobility corridor” on the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg, Toyota revealed the first prototype of one of the filling stations that could be used on this route.
At this week’s Smarter Mobility Africa Summit, the automaker introduced its “hydrogen mobility ecosystem” (HME) for refilling hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in a way that is nearly identical to a normal fuel pump.
The HME utilises green hydrogen from Sasol, a hydrogen dispenser from Air Products, and a fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) from Toyota, said the company, proving that the concept is viable in South Africa.
FCEVs running on green hydrogen are the main alternative to battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in the shift to an emissions-free future as they have far shorter refilling times, and they can use much of the same infrastructure as existing petrol and diesel stations with little additional investment compared to BEV chargers.
Producing green hydrogen also has a smaller carbon footprint than lithium, nickel, and cobalt mining – which are the main materials in car batteries.
“We see the creation of hydrogen hubs or ecosystems as a practical or affordable way to scale deployment of hydrogen in the transport sector,” said Sasol CEO Fleetwood Grobler when the companies initially announced the hydrogen mobility corridor.
“Our partnership with Toyota, which will include other partners over time, aims to build a sustainable end-to-end infrastructure for hydrogen mobility, initially focused on piloting the concept.”
According to the Department of Science and Innovation’s (DSI) Hydrogen Valley Final Report, published in October 2021, the Hydrogen Mobility Corridor will comprise:
- Two (2) 17MW electrolyzers that produce 2kTon of hydrogen a year
- Four (4) refueling stations
- Four (4) tub trailers to transport hydrogen to refueling stations
- 100 Hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks
Sasol said it already produces approximately 150kg of green hydrogen at its Sasolburg facility each day, however, there has been no word on the progress of the remainder of these milestones.
TopAuto previously asked Sasol and Toyota for information on the status of the Hydrogen Mobility Corridor, but both companies said they were unable to provide comment on the matter.
FCEV trucks
While Toyota showed off the proof-of-concept hydrogen refilling station on its FCEV Mirai, it said that the fuel would be more suited to commercial vehicles like heavy-duty trucks due to their large platforms that can accommodate sizeable hydrogen tanks.
To this end, the manufacturer said it aims to introduce a prototype truck to the local market as soon as it is done being developed, with more plans in the pipeline to enter the bus and passenger vehicle segments at a later stage – possibly with a hydrogen-powered Hilux.
In Europe, Toyota just recently started a joint venture with Dutch VDL Groep to convert existing heavy-duty trucks into “zero-emission carriers” using Toyota-made hydrogen fuel-cell modules, which are scheduled to hit the roads later in 2023.
In addition, French start-up HyLiko formed a partnership with Toyota earlier in 2023 to integrate the automaker’s second-generation hydrogen fuel-cell modules into its trucks.
If these fuel-cell trucks prove successful in Europe, they could also be coming to South Africa.
Keyword: Toyota introduces South Africa’s first hydrogen-car refilling station