Toyota Kluger Hydrogen 2011 Review

The car of the future is surprisingly normal. It still looks like a car - in this case, a Toyota Kluger - and it still has all the normal stuff you expect to find in a car, from the steering wheel to the aircon and sound system.

But you don't have to dig too deeply to discover that the Toyota FCHV - advanced is very un-normal. For a start, the only thing that comes out the exhaust pipe is water. And you fill it up with hydrogen, not petrol. That's because the FCHV is a fuel cell car that makes onboard electricity that is used to turn an electric motor that spins the wheels. It also has a battery to store energy from the fuel cell 'stack'.

It sounds simple and it is. Honda has had a similar future car on the road for more than 18 months, although only a handful are actually running in Japan and the USA in what amounts to a real-world labratory experiment. The FCHV is also a lab rat and, just like the Honda Clarity - which Carsguide first drove when it was still called the FCX fuel cell concept and there were only two cars - it is doing most of its work on the roads of Los Angeles, conveniently close to Toyota's advanced US research base.

Carsguide has arrived for a quick preview drive, actually a refresher after an early tease two years ago, and to learn how things are going with the long-term plan to electrify motoring. "We're two years closer," jokes fuel cell development boss Craig Scott as we sit in what looks like a regulation Shell service station in the suburb of Torrance. Except there is no cash register, no sign of Red Bull or Tim Tams, and the only fuel coming out of the pumps is hydrogen.

VALUE

The HFCV is a prototype and that means it would probably cost around $2 million to build a copy. But costs are coming down fast and Scott says the price of the fuel cell 'stack' - a combination of 400 individual cells that looks a little like a battery - is now one-hundredth of the price when development began.

"The target is $50,000 for a production vehicle," says Scott. Best of all, he is crunching running costs as the Fuel Cell Hydrogen Vehicle is refueled. "There are two ways of calculating the numbers, with tanked hydrogen or hydrogen from a pipeline. Right now this is the only piped station in the USA," Scott says. "If you look at the energy in the tanks compared to gasoline, we're getting about 5.4 litres/100km and that's about double the fuel economy of the petrol model. And the price of hydrogen is about one- fifth the cost of gasoline."

So that means the HFCV is currently 10 times cheaper to run than a V6- powered Toyota Kluger. But that's before governments get involved with the inevitable energy taxes ... And there is another problem in using hydrogen for transport. "You cannot sell hydrogen legally for vehicle at the moment because there is no measurement, although we talk in terms of kilograms of fuel," says Scott.

TECHNOLOGY

At its simplest, the FCHV is a Kluger with the running gear from a Prius and a fuel cell stack replacing the petrol engine. But that's a very simplistic way of looking at a car that's at the cutting edge of hydrogen power. The computer control systems are massively expensive and even the fuel tanks - designed to carry hydrogen at 10,000 pounds-per-square-inch of pressure, are aluminium wrapped around a complex plastic base. The FCHV has also been beefed-up to support the fuel tanks that sit below the floor and the technology is always changing as improvements come online. "Fuel cell stacks used to cost $2-3000 per kiloWatt hour. We need to get that down closer to $100 to make hydrogen power workable," says Scott.

DESIGN

There is nothing remotely special about the FCHV. Even the giant graphics splashed down the side look as if they were done by an engineer, not a designer. But the Kluger does the job and that's the most important thing about its design. It has plenty of space for hydrogen tanks and there are no visible changes to either the external or internal design of the original Kluger. It would be good to see something more George Jetson, like the original Honda FCX, but that's not the Toyota way. Boring but effective works.

SAFETY

Toyota has deliberately expanded its FCHV fleet in the past year to get more real-world experience - including crashes. And, no surprise, its evaluation drivers in New York have delivered.

"We've had three accidents this year, including two rear-enders. Everyone has walked away," says Scott. "That's great and we actually wanted to see how the car would perform. There are no hidden bugs." Of course, he's talking about the hydrogen tanks, which are the biggest worry. Otherwise, the Kluger is much as it originally came from the factory and the original is a five-star ANCAP car since 2008.

DRIVING

After driving a bunch of electric cars over the past five years, there is nothing surprising in the FCHV. You turn the key and nothing happens, at least that you can see or hear, beyond a few dashboard lights. But, like the Prius, once it's lit you can push and go on the accelerator pedal. The FCHV feels more ponderous than a regular Kluger, which is not exactly the most nimble car, thanks mostly to the bulk of the tanks.

It also rides lower in the rear, which could be the tanks or the members of the video crew who have joined Carsguide for the day. But heading into the Torrance traffic it gets along well, seems quiet and cushy, and the aircon works fine enough. It's no fireball, and there is no chance to push through corners or try and panic stop, but it is still a lab rat on a relatively short lead.

It definitely provides a window with a clear view to the potential future of motoring, and that picture is fairly crisp, colourful and exciting. Now all we need is somewhere beyond a BOC Gases base to get the hydrogen in Australia.

VERDICT

The FCHV is not for everyone, but for anyone who wants to taste the future it has a recipe that beats a Masterchef contestant. It's not the nicest drive, but that's no different to a petrol-powered Kluger. What it shows is that the world's biggest carmaker is committed to an electric car future, and one that stretches well beyond the Prius.

TOYOTA FCHV

Price: Not for sale
Warranty: None
Resale: Not for resale
Service interval: Often
Safety: Claimed 5-star ANCAP
Engine: fuel cell stack, 90kW; permanent magnet electric motor, 90kW/ 260Nm
Body: Five-door wagon
Weight: 1880kg
Transmission: Front-wheel drive
Fuel: high-pressure hydrogen
Tank: 156 litres
Range: approximately 860km
Top speed: 155km/h.