2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - Toyota Fuel Cell Concept (FCV) Debut

As Prepared for

2014 Consumer Electronics Show
Toyota Fuel Cell Press Conference
Las Vegas, January 6, 1PM
Bob Carter, Senior Vice President, Automotive Operations, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

“We aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel; just everything necessary to make them turn.”
–Bob Carter

“Fuel cells will be in our future sooner than many people believe…and in much greater numbers than anyone expected.”
–Bob Carter

A fuel cell is more efficient to operate than a gasoline engine; which means it requires less fuel… to travel the same distance…with zero emissions.”
–Bob Carter

“The issue of infrastructure is not so much about how many, but rather, location, location, location.”
–Bob Carter

“If every vehicle in California ran on Hydrogen—we could meet refueling logistics with only 15 percent of the nearly 10,000 gasoline stations currently operating in the state.”
–Bob Carter (citing the UCI-APEP model)

“The fuel cell output will be more than 100kW. A fully fueled vehicle will be capable of supplying enough energy to power a small house for a week in an emergency; which is why we are developing an external power supply device.”
–Bob Carter

Good afternoon everyone. Thanks for joining us today here in Las Vegas…

the convention center of the universe…
and home to CES, the world’s largest trade show.

I’ve been here countless times,

usually at our annual dealer meetings
where I usually start out with a few bad jokes.

This one is about focus and persistence…

which is appropriate to our press conference today.

So…A duck walks into the Mandalay bar and asks, "Got any grapes?"

The bartender tells the duck “no.” The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns and asks, "Got any grapes?"

Again, the bartender tells him, "No — this bar has never served grapes… and will never serve grapes." The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns, but before he can say anything, the bartender yells, "Listen, duck! If you ask for grapes again, I will nail your duck beak to the bar!"

The duck is silent for a moment, and then asks, "Got any nails?"

Confused, the bartender says no.

"Good!" says the duck. "Got any grapes?

OK…so here’s the connection;

I believe what I’m going to tell you about today
is going to change our world;
and sooner…
than later.

For years, the use of hydrogen gas to power automobiles

has been seen by many smart people
as a foolish quest.

That point of view

is reminiscent of opinions 20 years ago
of how the Prius hybrid
was nothing more than a science project…
and economically unfeasible.
Change takes persistence.

Instead of turning a clever phrase, we at Toyota…

have been turning wheels,
with electricity…
by combining hydrogen and oxygen
in an onboard fuel cell system.

Hydrogen as we know,

works beautifully with oxygen…
to create water
and electricity…
and nothing more.

Hydrogen is plentiful

and there are many ways to produce it;
many of them, sustainable.

And, as we know,

a fuel cell is more efficient to operate…
than a gasoline engine;
which means it requires less fuel
to travel the same distance…
and again… zero emissions.

In 2015, we will bring this technology to market.

That’s not to say our work will be done

and that there are not significant challenges ahead;
two in particular.

The first is building the vehicle at an affordable price.

The second, is doing what WE can

to help build
the critical hydrogen
refueling infrastructure

First things first; the car.

For the last 20 years,

Toyota’s investment
in fuel cell R&D
has been massive.

Since 2002,

we’ve been testing and developing
a series of fuel cell vehicles
in North America.

In those 11 years,

and more than a million miles…
we have dramatically reduced the cost
of building a fuel cell powertrain.

In fact, we estimate a 95-percent cost reduction

in the powertrain and fuel tanks
of the vehicle we will launch in 2015…
compared to
what it cost to build the original
Highlander fuel cell back in 2002.

Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show

last November, it is a
zero-emission…
electric-drive…
mid-size…
four-door sedan.

It produces sufficient electrical power

to spin the electric motor
for about 300 miles on a single fill-up…
which takes three to five minutes.

How this is accomplished

is due in no small part
to 20 years of experience with hybrid technology…
starting with the Prius.

Here’s an example. During development

of the second-generation Prius hybrid
engineers reduced the size, weight and cost
of the expensive main battery
by using an advanced boost convertor
to raise overall system voltage.

The same thinking was carried over to fuel cells…

where a new convertor
more than triples system voltage
from the fuel cell… to the electric motor.

This saves weight and space,

And considerable cost.

The fuel cell

sits under the front passenger seats;
the two tanks under and behind the rear seats.

The stack, will have a total output of more than 100kW.

A fully fueled vehicle

will be capable
of supplying enough energy
to power a house
for a week in an emergency—
which is why our engineers
are looking to develop
an external power supply device
that could be used in this manner.

Current-generation hybrid components

were used extensively in the fuel cell,
including
the electric motor,
power control
and main battery.

The result is a car that will have

a cabin as quiet as a Lexus hybrid.

In prototype testing here in the U.S.

we are seeing zero-to-sixty-acceleration in about 10 seconds…
and a top track speed of over 100 miles per hour.

In other words…

functionally…
a regular car.

What’s not regular

is its make-a-statement styling.

If the front-end of our vehicle

looks like its main purpose
is to induce air flow under the hood…
you would be correct.

A large flow of air

is required to draw heat
from the fuel cell stack.

Not only are the intakes

critical to system cooling
they are part of an air management system
that will deliver
excellent aerodynamics.

The phrase “Oxygen in…water out,” in fact,

was an important part
of the styling theme;
literally… form based on function.

On closer examination, you will notice

that this car is not really a car at all,
but a mock-up
of how the vehicle will look
when it arrives.

This car, on the other hand,

is not a car either.

It is what we call

an engineering mule,
a Frankenstein, where a platform and powertrain
and borrowed parts
are stuffed into an existing car
so that critical testing can be accomplished.

For more than a year…and still on-going

Frankenstein and three others like it,
have been subjected to critical
on-road testing in North America.

It has involved more than a week in Yellowknife Canada

confirming early morning start-ups
at minus-30 degrees Centigrade.

High altitude performance

was gauged in the Rockies,
while the notorious Streets of San Francisco
were used to test steep, low-speed hill climb
from a standing start.

This last summer in Death Valley…

and right here in Las Vegas,
system cooling and cabin air conditioning
were severely tested.

While on-road testing is being done in the U.S.,

hundreds of thousands of miles are being logged
in Japan
where complete powertrain systems
are bench-tested
in extreme conditions.

Not far away at the Higashifuji Safety Center

extensive crash testing
has been on-going for months.

Safety is always a top priority.

But as we learned with Prius,

the introduction of game-changing technology
poses new challenges
that must be fully tested
and confirmed
in both lab
and on-highway environments.

Like the Prius

this has been
a fully “in-house” project.

From the start,

we needed to invent the tools
with which to develop…
build…and safety test
a truly exotic powertrain.

By far the biggest advances in coming to market

with a reasonably priced car
have been related to materials,
design and manufacturing.

The beauty

is that we see
considerable improvement
in all three areas;
which is why
we are so bullish on fuel cells.

Toyota has been

in the automotive drive-battery business
for a loooonnnggg time.

We love batteries. We are the world leader in hybrid electrics. That dedication to battery technology will continue.

But compared to battery-electrics,

the rate of cost reduction we have seen
in fuel cell-electric technology
has been staggering,

That’s why hydrogen-fuel-cell-electric-vehicles

will be in our future sooner than many people believe.
and in much greater numbers
than anyone expected.

OK….so now the second part of the challenge…and the biggest;

the need for a convenient
re-fueling infrastructure.

And this is where we have gotten a little help from our friends.
The success of fuel cell technology,

will depend less on the genius of the car,
than on the ownership experience.

That’s a very important point.

As you can imagine,

there are differing opinions
on how…
or if…
this infrastructure can be built.

A few years ago, Governor Schwarzenegger,

promised a hydrogen highway
of fueling stations…
running the length of California.

The bad news is that currently,

there are only about 10
active hydrogen fuel cell stations
in California.

But there’s more good news than bad.

The state has approved

more than $200 million in funding
for as many as 100 new stations;
20 by 2015,
And 40 by 2016.

Those numbers might sound small,

but one thing we have come to believe
is that the issue of infrastructure
is not so much about how many:
But rather location, location, location.

Toyota…and the University of California Irvine’s

Advanced Power and Energy Program…”APEP”
collaborated on a spatial model
that maps-out a specific distribution
of fueling stations.

The locations consider a variety of data including

R.L Polk ownership of hybrids and electrics (pause)
traffic patterns,
population density,
and so on.

The model was designed…

based on the assumption that owners
would want to reach
a refueling station within 6-minutes.

What the model produced

was an initial cluster map that identified
only…….68 station sites,
in the San Francisco Bay area,
Silicon Valley, LA, Orange and San Diego counties.

If implemented, the system could handle a fuel cell population

conservatively estimated
at about 10,000 vehicles.

The study goes further.

By using the model,

and if every vehicle in California ran on Hydrogen…
we could meet refueling logistics
with only 15 percent
of the nearly 10,000 gasoline stations
currently operating in the state.

It’s not about how many. It’s about location.

This model is being used by

the California Energy Commission,

the Governors Zero Emission Vehicle Initiative
the California Air Resources Board,
the U.S. Department of Energy
and the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

It’s not done.

They’re not yet built.

And there are many challenges ahead.

But this plan is but one

of many initiatives going on right now,
where solutions are being found
through collaboration
between government regulators, academia,
carmakers and energy providers.

Stay tuned….

Because this infrastructure thing is going to happen.

Not long ago,

our plan was to ease-into the US market,
starting in California,
with a fairly low volume.

But things have quickly changed,

because this vehicle’s level of performance,
refinement
and cost reductions…
have evolved at a rapid rate.

We in the U.S….

have already asked our headquarters for…
substantially more volume…
than our original request.

We believe that demand

will outweigh
our current supply plan.

This will be a very special vehicle…

and we believe we can bring it in…
at a very reasonable price…
for a lot of people.

Specific volume for each global market

will be announced not long from now;
as will the name of the vehicle…
that I believe will be…
the Toyota car of the future.

Technically, functionally and stylistically

our goal was not to re-invent the wheel;
just everything necessary to make the wheels turn.

So…before we close….

Obviously I'm not going to be a headliner comedian here in Vegas. But please stop by our Toyota display to see two star acts, the FunV2 and iRoad concept vehicles.

I’m Bob Carter. Have a great time at the show tomorrow.

Thank you all for joining us this afternoon.

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