Toyota unveils Hydrogen-Powered GR Yaris

Toyota’s latest concept vehicle comes in the form of a GR Yaris that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. The hot hatch has received the hydrogen fuel tanks from the Mirai, but it still operates the inline-three-cylinder motor that received adaptations to allow it to run on hydrogen.

According to Toyota, thanks to hydrogen combustion technology, this concept vehicle delivers “near-zero emissions,” while also keeping the acoustic and sensory characteristics that are typical for internal combustion engines. In other words, this is not a new concept but shows that someone is still working on getting an ICE vehicle to work on hydrogen.

Toyota claims that it started experimenting with hydrogen combustion technology back in 2017 and underlines the fact that this technology is not yet ready for commercialization. However, the Japanese marque has pledged to continue the development of this unit under the hood of the Corolla Sport in the Super Taikyu race series in Japan.

The Corolla Sport that is employed in that championship comes with the same G16E-GTS engine that is available on the GR Yaris. However, the unit has been modified to allow it to run on hydrogen instead of gasoline.