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Mazda Announces 2008 Commercial H2 Car Launch Plans at Tokyo Motor Show

TOKYO, October 22 - Upstaging the lineup of gleaming new fuel cell prototypes and concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda Motor Corp. announced plans to offer a hydrogen-powered internal combustion-engined hybrid minivan to the general public by 2008.

Speaking to reporters at the Oct. 22- Nov. 6 event, Mazda president Hisakazu Imaki said his company intends to sell a vehicle similar to the new Premacy Hydrogen RE concept minivan operating on both hydrogen and gasoline, which it unveiled at the show, within three years. There may be others as well: “The concept could be expanded into other models, and we intend to offer it as a mass -production vehicle within three years,”Imaki said.

If Mazda, Japan’s sixth-largest carmaker and part of the Ford Motor Co. group, in fact makes good on its pledge, it would be the first and earliest commercial offering of a hydrogen vehicles by a large-volume manufacturer - unless, of course, other manufacturers raise to the bait and try to beat Mazda to the punch.

The Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid employs the same dual-fuel (gasoline-hydrogen) system that was developed two years ago for the RX-8 Hydrogen RE, augmented by a nickel hydride battery and electric motor. Unlike the RX-8 Hydrogen, which debuted at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show (H&FCL Nov. 03), the Premacy Hydrogen is equipped with a larger hydrogen tank. No tank specifications were provided other than that it stores the gas at 35 MPa (5,000 psi).

The internal combustion engine is of the rotary type, also known as the Wankel engine. Conventional piston engines tend to backfire when operated on hydrogen, requiring modifications. Rotary engines, on the other hand, do not backfire because of their design characteristics and layout, making them inherently suitable for hydrogen fuel.

Researchers said the vehicle can run 125 miles in its hydrogen fuel mode, double the distance of the RX-8 Hydrogen. The Premacy Hydrogen's electric motor produces 40 PS (30 kW).

Mazda also announced plans to market the RX-8 Hydrogen in the spring of 2006. The model, which can run more than 60 miles in its hydrogen mode (400 miles combined), will be leased at a still-to-be-determined price, probably ten units in the first year.

On the fuel cell front, the three most noteworthy models were the FCX Concept by Honda, the Fine-X by Toyota, and DaimlerChrysler’s surprise launch, the brand-new F 600 HYGENIUS. Al three feature compact stacks installed underneath the floors, giving designers a free hand to create spacious passenger compartments without transmission tunnels.

(A detailed report on fuel cell and hydrogen vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show will run in the upcoming November issue of “The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter.”)

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