Japanese motor giants ally to develop hydrogen service stations

The three Japanese automaker giants, Toyota Motor Company, Nissan Motor Co., and Honda Motor Co. have agreed a joint strategy of support for hydrogen station development in Japan, as reported in a joint press release.

The three-way partnership is looking to increase the number of hydrogen service stations in Japan. They have approved to partially cover the operating costs of these stations, and to help operators deliver high-standard customer service for owners of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).

In an effort to help cover the expenses of refurbishment and installation, the Joint Hydrogen Infrastructure Support Project will finance up to a third of the annual operating costs – with a maximum of 11 million yen ($90,000) – for any service station accepted in the innovative programme.

The plan will run until 2020, and is expected to cost a total of 5 billion to 6 billion yen ($40.5 million to $49 million), according to Kiyotaka Ise, Senior Managing Director of Toyota, in a statement made to Bloomberg.

Toyota took the lead in developing fuel cell vehicles with the launch for the Mirai FCV in late 2014. Of the other two partners, Honda hopes their new FCV can be introduced in the market by April 2016, while Nissan is not looking to enter the market before 2017. The three Japanese corporations believe ensuring a developed, easy-to-use hydrogen station infrastructure is essential to establishing a strong FSV market.