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Toyota hydrogen fuel cells bring high speed innovation to Barcelona
Thanks to Toyota New Zealand and its hydrogen strategy, six foiling boats powered by hydrogen with zero emissions have been ‘flying’ at speed around the Barcelona America’s Cup course, supporting racing and event teams.
Starting with the 10-metre Chase Zero, Emirates Team New Zealand’s prototype which was launched in Auckland in 2023, five more 13-metre hydrogen fuel cell boats were built using Toyota technology and local Kiwi engineering expertise from business partner Global Bus Ventures (GBV).
Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) commissioned a second boat and the America’s Cup Event company commissioned two more boats, one an open top. INEOS Britannia, recent winner of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Finals, and Alinghi Red Bull Racing also have hydrogen chase boats, both featuring Toyota and GBV integrated technology.
The development of a hydrogen fuel cell chase boat by ETNZ, Toyota NZ and GBV, was the result of a local Toyota strategy to develop a viable hydrogen economy in New Zealand with a range of innovations in multiple sectors, from electricity generators to hydrogen-powered speedboats.
Toyota NZ Acting Chief Executive Tatsuya Ishikawa says the hydrogen strategy is to instigate, encourage and enable New Zealand businesses to enter the hydrogen market which is still very much in its infancy.
“We introduced three hydrogen initiatives to support our carbon neutrality ambition: a highly innovative hydrogen powered electricity generator; hydrogen fuel cell Mirai cars in an exclusive car sharing scheme with commercial partners in Auckland; and hydrogen-fuel cells sourced from Japan for the America’s Cup chase boats and other uses.
“Following our investment with Emirates Team New Zealand with the development of its hydrogen chase boat, our investment in the Toyota Hydrogen generator is designed to allow partners to test and consider hydrogen as a genuine alternative energy source in the commercial sector.
“We are passionate about exploring the broader use of hydrogen across multiple sectors including converting existing heavy vehicles to hydrogen using Toyota fuel cells,” Mr Ishikawa says.
The Toyota Hydrogen Project car share scheme, which was launched in May 2022, partnered with eight kiwi brands to showcase the capabilities of this technology. In 2024, Fletcher Building, AMI and EnviroNZ joined the Hydrogen Project.
In addition, Toyota NZ has imported seven Fuel Cells for various applications including a specialised power generator and a truck conversion.