Toyota has finally unveiled its FCV hydrogen fuel cell sedan and its Japanese price. We won't have to wait too long to see the first of these revolutionary vehicles on the roads. It will go on sale in Japan in April 2015 and will come to the US and Europe later that summer.
In Japan, the FCV will be priced at roughly 7 million yen before taxes ($68,810 at current exchange rates). However, Toyota makes it clear in the press release that we shouldn't try to extrapolate US MSRP from that figure, saying that official pricing for the US and Europe has not yet been determined. As will be the case in the US, sales in Japan will be limited to parts of the country that already have a hydrogen refueling infrastructure (that means you, California).
The production version of the FCV looks almost identical to the concept from last year's Tokyo Motor Show. There is a new vertical strip of LEDs at each corner of the front air intake and real sideview windows, instead of the nubs on the prototype. The weird squiggles from the rear trim are also gone in favor of a more production-ready look, but the taillights survive the changes mostly intact.
The automaker is keeping most of the specs about the FCV a secret for now as well, but it is confirmed a few key details. It promises performance for the sedan on par with a gasoline engine and a cruising range of about 435 miles, according to the Japanese government's testing procedure. In our test drive of the prototype, we found the performance was gas-sedan-like with some EV aspects. The official range in other regions will differ. Toyota is promising that it takes just three minutes to top up the sedan's hydrogen tanks, highlighting one major advantage hydrogen has over electric vehicles: refueling time.
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