Toyota has started development on a prototype Hilux fuel cell electric vehicle driven by customer demand.

As part of their holistic approach, Toyota has identified an opportunity in the commercial vehicle market for a zero-emissions product.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd (TMUK) will partner with UK-based technical partners Ricardo, ETL, D2H and Thatcham Research and will receive technical support from Toyota Manufacturing Europe. 

They will receive funding from the UK government to cover the development of a fuel-cell-powered Hilux with the aim to adopt second-generation Toyota fuel cell components (as used in the latest Toyota Mirai) for the transformation of the vehicle.

Home solar advice tool launched

A free tool for tailored guidance on the ideal solar and battery setups called SunSPOT, has been launched.

Developed by APVI and the University of New South Wales, the online tool allows users to calculate size, cost and potential savings from household renewable systems and is the only such platform offering this information without a sales motive.

Australian households and small businesses can use SunSPOT to find out what solar system size will give them the best return on their investment and get an estimate of the cost and annual savings in less than five minutes.

Users can also compare the costs and annual savings with different battery sizes.

Users can add their smart meter data and electricity tariffs for even more accurate estimates, if desired.

New battery offers ‘ultra-long’ life

Sodium-sulphur batteries have been around for several decades, but they have been significantly inferior compared with traditional lithium-ion batteries when it comes to energy density, life cycle and capacity.

Now researchers from the University of Sydney say they have developed a new type of sodium-sulphur battery which they boast offers ‘super-high capacity and ultra-long life’, and which will be much cheaper than traditional batteries.

Using a simple pyrolysis process and carbon-based electrodes, which help to improve the reactivity of sulphur and the reversibility of reactions between sulphur and sodium, the researchers claim their new battery offers four times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries and is far cheaper to produce.

The sodium-sulphur battery developed by Dr Shenlong Zhao’s team has been specifically designed to provide a high-performance solution for large-scale renewable energy storage systems.