Toyota is considering equipping a hydrogen engine on the Land Cruiser.

The Japanese car company said it is underway Testing Toyota cars with hydrogen engines in Australia. This engine block is installed on a Toyota HiAce van and conducted a test run for 3 months, from the end of October 2023 to January 2024 to review the vehicle’s performance and durability.

The move comes as Toyota seeks to popularize hydrogen as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. Unlike regular HiAce models sold in Australia, which are currently only powered by a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, this Hydrogen HiAce prototype is powered by a revised 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 to Runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. This engine is currently used with above gasoline fuel Lexus LX 600 and Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 in many markets around the world.

Speaking at the launch of Hydrogen HiAce in Australia, Toyota said hydrogen engine technology on the Land Cruiser as well as other large vehicles is used to transport goods. In an interview with Drive, Hydrogen Plant President Mitsumasa Yamagata said: “It is likely that Toyota will apply hydrogen engine into the Land Cruiser LC300 and large vehicles. The advantages of this technology can be leveraged for those vehicles, including heavy trucks.”

Toyota has been researching hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines since 2017 and introduced this technology in 2021.

Toyota has been researching hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines since 2017 and introduced this technology in 2021, when the Corolla Sport Hydrogen was registered to compete in the Super Taikyu tournament. On the Land Cruiser LC300, the 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 engine produces 409 horsepower and 650 Nm. However, when converting to hydrogen fuel, the power of this engine block is greatly reduced, to only 161 horsepower and 354 Nm.

This Hydrogen HiAce has a front-mounted internal combustion engine while the hydrogen tank is mounted below the floor. Toyota says the technology is still in development and the company is looking to optimize the vehicle’s structure to increase hydrogen storage, regulate combustion and even explore the possibility of adding hybrid technology. . This hydrogen car only has a limited range, only about 200km with a full tank.