Toyota Releases Pro-Hydrogen Video

2014 Toyota FCV Concept (Credit: Toyota)

It’s no secret that Toyota is a big supporter of hydrogen vehicles, a technology that is predicted to be quite common in Japan in the foreseeable future. Knowing that, it’s no surprise that the giant automaker has released a new video that promotes the use of hydrogen, touting it as a natural progression in our society.

How you interpret the video probably depends on your viewpoint. People who know nothing about hydrogen technology might be confused or intrigued by the ad. Bit electric car proponents likely will be offended, labeling it as “propaganda” along with gasoline and diesel fans. Finally, those who are hoping for hydrogen to take off as a fuel source are cheering, because they know that with the financial and political might of Toyota, there’s a very real possibility that a hydrogen infrastructure could be laid down.

In the video, Toyota talks about how in the next year people will be faced with supporting, ignoring or opposing the developments in hydrogen fuel. Of course, that’s a reference to the upcoming release of the 2015 FCV, a car that is supposed to be the natural progression of the revolutionary Prius. Toyota has said for a while now that hybrids were a bridge technology meant to help break down the gasoline paradigm in the automotive industry before introducing hydrogen as the real, long-term future.

Some point out that Toyota has worked with, and might continue to be working with, Tesla on vehicles with electric powertrains. While this may be true, one has to keep in mind that the RAV4 EVs were made as compliance vehicles to fulfill CAFE requirements in California, only going up for sale in that state. So the automaker isn’t doing a two-step or waffling back and forth between alternative fuels. That fact alone bodes well for hydrogen fuel adoption, helping give the technology more traction as Toyota really begins pushing for it.

Will you be refueling a future vehicle with hydrogen instead of gas? If Toyota has its way, absolutely.