The loss of life of the inner combustion engine has been enormously exaggerated. Sure, we’re heading in the direction of an electrical period, however the good ol’ ICE will not be giving up with no combat simply but. The Volkswagen Group has been toying round with the thought of artificial fuels lengthy earlier than “Dieselgate” was even a phrase and it is not the one giant firm trying to maintain the “noisy” powertrain alive.
Take for instance Toyota. The Mirai will not be precisely probably the most thrilling automobile on the earth, nevertheless it is among the cleanest since solely water comes out of its exhaust tip. This JDM-spec Corolla Sport hatchback additionally feeds on hydrogen because the midsize sedan, nevertheless it nonetheless has a combustion engine. The gasoline used is 100% pure hydrogen with out even a single drop of gasoline.
Its hydrogen engine emits near zero CO2 emissions when in use, “aside from the combustion of minute quantities of engine oil throughout driving.” Toyota goes on to say these engines “burn hydrogen whereas taking in oxygen within the air, as within the case with gasoline engines, a specific amount of NOx is created within the course of.”
By holding the ICE alive, it means the Corolla hatch right here can nonetheless ship a fairly good engine soundtrack whereas being almost carbon impartial. The work-in-progress prototype with a turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine will get its juice from renewable vitality produced on the Fukushima Hydrogen Power Analysis Subject in Japan.
Whereas it is no inline-six or V8 music, the sound generated by the engine will not be half dangerous contemplating it is solely a three-pot. It additionally behaves very similar to a standard gasoline engine, as defined by racing driver Hiroaki Ishiura: “It isn’t as totally different (from regular gasoline-powered automobiles) as I had anticipated. It seems like a standard engine. (If I am not instructed something) I would most likely assume that that is one regular engine.”
We’ll be seeing extra of the Corolla Sport subsequent month as will probably be examined throughout a 24-hour endurance race as a part of the Tremendous Taikyu Sequence. The compact hatchback is fascinating not simply due to its distinctive engine, but additionally on account of its all-wheel-drive system tailored from the GR Yaris. There have been rumors of a GR Corolla with the supermini’s AWD system and its three-cylinder turbo engine, however Toyota stays tight-lipped for now.
