Toyota GR H2 Racing: Hydrogen Enters the Race (Video)

Toyota is investing in hydrogen propulsion and unveils a prototype with the ambition to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans shortly.

Being a pioneer gives you a significant media advantage over your competitors, to the point of embodying a technology. After the hybrid car episode with the Prius in the late 1990s, Toyota wants to repeat the same strategy with the hydrogen vehicle: get in early, maybe too early, some will think, but the return on investment will be realized over decades.

Toyota strongly believes in this technology, including through vehicles for ordinary people. Its competitors are less convinced; we will see in the future who was right. But for sure, heavy vehicles (trucks, trains, boats, buses…) with known daily routes will be targeted by hydrogen-powered engines.

Propulsion systems with an “S,” because as of now, there are two: fuel cell or internal combustion. The first is more ambitious and complex, while the second is readily available. And because only specialists in the field will know how to tell the difference, the semantic will only retain one common term: hydrogen.

Hence, all manufacturers want to make history by being the first to introduce this technology at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race remains the perfect laboratory to make a technical solution relevant and popular.

With the presentation of a GR H2 Concept prototype on the eve of the Centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota aims to set an initial milestone and gain an edge over its rivals.

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