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Toyota-led consortium secures funding for a Hilux hydrogen-powered pick-up

A Toyota-led consortium has secured funding from the Britain government to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell version of the Hilux pick-up. Toyota said Friday the project is an important contribution on the road to carbon-zero mobility. Photo courtesy Toyota
1 of 2 | A Toyota-led consortium has secured funding from the Britain government to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell version of the Hilux pick-up. Toyota said Friday the project is an important contribution on the road to carbon-zero mobility. Photo courtesy Toyota

Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A Toyota-led consortium to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered pick-up has secured British government funding.

The Hilux hydrogen-powered pick-up will be developed at Toyota's plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, Toyota Manufacturing U.K. Managing Director Richard Kenworthy said in a statement announcing the funding.

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"The opportunity that this funding enables is significant and goes toward developing the technical capabilities not only of our employees here at our site in Burnaston in the East Midlands but also of those within the wider consortium partners. This region is heavily committed to supporting zero emissions mobility and we see this project as a great opportunity to contribute to the critical path on the road to carbon zero mobility."

The money to develop the vehicle is coming from the Advanced Propulsion Center. The APC is a non-profit organization working with the British government, auto companies and academic bodies to accelerate the industrialization of technologies to support the transition to net-zero emission vehicle delivery, according to Toyota.

Toyota said in a statement that this new opportunity to bring zero-emission technology to the commercial vehicle market reflects evolving consumer demand.

The Toyota-led consortium will use the funding in collaboration with British technical engineering partners Ricardo, ETL, D2H and Thatcham Research.

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The Hilux hydrogen pick-up will use Toyota's second-generation fuel cell system "to transform a Hilux into an electric vehicle," according to Toyota.

Toyota Motor Europe research and development will provide technical support for the project.

"The U.K. is one of the key markets for pick-up trucks and an important market for Toyota. This funding represents a tremendous opportunity to develop a zero-emission solution in a critical market segment," Matt Harrison, Toyota Motor Europe President and CEO, said in a statement.

In June, Volvo announced that it is working on hydrogen-powered fuel cells that emit water vapor rather than greenhouse gases. Volvo said its hydrogen-powered trucks could enter world markets in the second half of the 2020s.

Volvo is also working with Daimler on hydrogen fuel cells for heavy transport and long-haul vehicles.

Hyundai is also developing hydrogen-powered versions of all its commercial vehicles they hope to have available by 2028.

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