A while ago, Toyota made the news by announcing their first hydrogen-powered car, and it was received moderately well when it went on sale. The car’s market availability is still a bit messy though, as it hasn’t reached the US market yet, although Toyota are giving reassurance that they’re working on the situation. And now, there are rumors that the company is actually gearing up for another release with a similar idea, under the Lexus brand.
According to reports, the company is planning to borrow the design for the fuel cell system used in the Mirai, and use it in a more luxurious vehicle like the Lexus. Other than that, it’s reported that Toyota are looking to carry over their design solutions from the Mirai to the new Lexus, including the main mechanical components of the vehicle, and even some of the electronics, if the rumors are true.
However, reports also indicate that this has been quite the serious challenge for the company, and they will have to go through a lot of work to make sure that the hydrogen engine will work in the Lexus LS. The problem stems from the fact that the Lexus LS wasn’t designed with a hydrogen engine in mind from the start, while the Mirai was a hydrogen vehicle from the very beginning, and was designed around the idea from the ground up.
Toyota seem to know what to do in order to make sure that the design will be appropriate though, and according to the current rumors, they will place the fuel cell right under the front seat, leaving the hydrogen tanks behind the rear seat. Perhaps more interestingly however, the new model is reported to have a similar mileage as the currenete FCEV – the vehicle is supposed to get 239 miles on a full charge, which, despite not being quite the 300 miles on the Mirai, is still an impressive number.
However, fans who got excited by this announcement may want to put off the hype for at least a year or two – the vehicle is reportedly not coming to the market anytime soon, and most predictions seem to point towards 2017 as a potential launch date. Of course, this is still speculation, and the situation can realistically swing both ways – it’s possible that Toyota may delay the development of the new model if they run into issues, while on the other hand, it’s also possible that they may make advancements in their hydrogen technology that will allow them to speed up the design of the new Lexus LS. If they manage to overcome the hurdles with the design readjustment, then they shouldn’t need too long to complete the project.