Koji Sato, who started as Toyota’s CEO last April, already stated freshly that hydrogen cars are the future of the car brand.
Jari-Matti Latvala, who serves as the team principal of Toyota’s WRC team, got to test the car manufacturer’s new hydrogen car when he participated in the Fuji 24-hour endurance race before Rally Sardinia. Latvala drove the Toyota GR Corolla H2 concept car at Fuji.
Latvala described the experience as very positive and he accumulated a significant number of driving kilometres.
“It was great and so was this hydrogen thing. I want to say that we took huge steps forward on that front, Latvala told RallyJournal.com.
Latvala accumulated nearly a hundred kilometres in the Fuji race. The difference compared to last year was immense.
“Last year we could only drive 13 laps, and now we were able to drive nearly 30 laps (in one stint). We made huge progress on the hydrogen front. Unfortunately, we had problems with the brakes. Because of that, we missed many hours of driving. The overall result was therefore poor”, Latvala recounted.
“In the previous two years, we did not have such problems, so it was a bit of a mysterious issue”, Latvala continued.
Toyota has invested and will continue to invest heavily in hydrogen-powered cars. But could the car also be brought to the WRC side?
“Of course, Toyota is very interested in this hydrogen thing, as it could be a really good option that could be used in internal combustion engines. Akio Toyoda has said that we need to have sound in this sport, and I agree with that. For that, it needs to be an internal combustion engine”, Latvala said.
“But at the same time, we are thinking about these environmental issues and sustainable development. This is already a good step, making such fuel aimed at sustainable development, and it is made from renewable materials. But if we want to be more carbon-neutral, then hydrogen is an excellent option for that, and Toyota is continuously working on it”, Latvala outlined.
“It is continuously progressing, but more work is still needed on it”.
