Toyota mulls fuel cell-powered Lexus by 2020
BENGALURU, October 23, 2015
Toyota Motor Corp is considering adding a fuel cell- powered car to its luxury brand Lexus by around 2020, the Nikkei reported on Thursday.
The company, which has already launched the fuel cell-powered Toyota Mirai, will likely incorporate the technology into the Lexus LS, the brand's flagship sedan, Nikkei said.
Toyota will factor market trends and cost-cutting efforts into the price of the fuel cell version of the Lexus LS, Nikkei said.
Toyota was not immediately available for comment.
The company is betting heavily on fuel cell vehicles, which run on electricity generated by mixing hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air without the carbon emissions produced by gasoline-engine vehicles.
Toyota last week said it aimed to sell 30,000 fuel cell vehicles a year by the end of the decade under a plan to cut carbon emissions nearly to zero by 2050.
The carmaker has so far sold 350 Mirai fuel cell cars and plans to boost production to about 2,000 next year and 3,000 in 2017.
Hyundai Motor Co is also producing fuel-cell vehicles for the consumer market and Honda Motor Corp is widely expected to unveil its own offering later this month. - Reuters
