The automotive world is slowly accepting electric as the new norm moving forward, but old guard Toyota is still adamant that internal combustion technology is here to stay, thanks to the use of ‘alternative fuels’; Hydrogen in this case.
Following up with the announcement last week that it is entering a hydrogen-powered race car into the Super Taikyu endurance race, Toyota has now shared a short video clip of its race-prepped to show off its brawny exhaust note – something you definitely can’t get in an EV.
The new engine sounds remarkably similar to a regular petrol-powered car – and that’s because it is. This isn’t the hydrogen fuel cell technology that we’ve seen on the Toyota Mirai – instead, it’s actually a modified version of the 1.6-litre three-banger mill found on the GR Yaris, using liquid hydrogen as fuel.
In the video above, test driver Hiroaki Ishiura even said that it’s “not as different” from a normal petrol engine as he’d expected, adding that he’d probably think that it was one, unless specifically being told that it’s powered by hydrogen!
Of course, the key difference here is that it produces zero CO2 from the combustion process, which is in line with Toyota’s overall carbon-neutrality goals. Just like any other internal combustion engine, a little oil is still used in the process, and a little greenhouse gas is still released from the alternative fuel but it’s already significantly better than what we have now, environmentally speaking.
The hydrogen-powered Toyota Corolla Sport will be racing in the NAPAC Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race from the 21st to 23rd of May, where it will go head-to-head against the regular race-fuel propulsion.
We’re always excited for clean motoring, so we can’t wait to see how this one fares. If things go well, we might even see this technology being applied to road-going cars too! And as a confidence booster, one thing’s already for sure – it sounds badass!
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