Toyota announces brand new Gen 3 hydrogen Fuel Cell: Is this the diesel killer?

The world has never been short of bold promises about hydrogen-fuelled motoring. Some automakers like to dabble, others prefer to tweet pithy lines and call it progress.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s been quietly chipping away at its hydrogen masterplan for over a decade – only popping up every so often to say, “Look, we’ve built another one, and it’s better than the last.”

Today’s instalment in that saga is the new 3rd Gen Fuel Cell System – a freshly brewed hydrogen contraption that Toyota swears up and down is finally sturdy enough to challenge diesel’s title as king of commercial.

Twice as tough, twice as interesting

Toyota insists this fuel cell system is now as durable as a conventional diesel engine. Let that sink in: the sort of unbreakable lumps that have powered everything from your uncle’s battered estate to a million-mile cab in the Scottish Highlands.

So, presumably, the 3rd Gen hydrogen fuel cell could outlive your mortgage. That’s not your typical battery warranty spiel – this is Toyota telling fleet operators, “Trust me, lads, we’ve got this.”

It’s also said to be maintenance-free, or at least close enough to earn the right to say it.

Anyone in the haulage or passenger transport business knows that time off the road is a financial horror story. A bulletproof hydrogen system with minimal downtime could be a siren song for the lot of them.

Less refuelling, more driving

Toyota also claims a 20% improvement in fuel efficiency, gifting you a longer cruising range for every hydrogen top-up.

That’s 20% fewer sweaty palms as you watch the gauge plunge in the middle of the M1, far from the nearest hydrogen station that might or might not exist… yet.

It’s precisely this sort of real-world range improvement that might convince sceptics. After all, the best way to stop people from rolling their eyes at hydrogen is to give them more miles between stops – and a system that can handle the daily grind without coughing up a gasket.

Cost cuts and compact cleverness

Now, it wouldn’t be Toyota without some mention of manufacturing prowess. They’ve apparently revised the cell design and fiddled with the production processes to slash costs significantly.

If it means the next Mirai (or whatever hydrogen wizardry they concoct) won’t come with a sticker price to rival a detached home in the Cotswolds, that’s good news for ordinary punters.

They’ve also made it more compact, which means it can be plonked into a range of vehicles – from passenger cars to heavy-duty lorries, even ships and trains.

So, we might be seeing (or hearing very little from) silent hydrogen trains gliding through the countryside, if Toyota gets its way.

The grand unveiling

If you’re keen on seeing the 3rd Gen hydrogen fuel cell system in the flesh (or metal), Toyota’s set the grand unveiling for February 19 at the H2 & FC EXPO in Tokyo. Expect polite applause and plenty of corporate jargon, but hopefully a decent look at the future of Toyota’s hydrogen ambitions.

And that’s really the crux of this story: Toyota’s unwavering faith in hydrogen.

While most of the rest of the automotive world juggles battery packs, plug-in cables, and the occasional massive grille, Toyota quietly invests in an alternative that – if these claims hold – might give diesel a run for its money.

Because let’s face it, if you can convince a bloke with a fleet of lorries that a hydrogen truck is as durable, as cost-effective, and as easy to run as his current diesel rig, you’re on the fast track to a genuine hydrogen society.

And that might just be the biggest shift in commercial transport since some bright spark stuck an engine in a horse carriage.

Is this the moment hydrogen leaps from niche to normal? Possibly. But if there’s one company bonkers enough to stick with it – through thick, thin, or a global EV arms race – it’s Toyota.

And judging by this new 3rd Gen hydrogen fuel cell system, they’ve got a fair shot at making the future a bit more H2O and a lot less CO2.