• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Ford “Significantly” Raising Production of Mustang Mach-E While Reducing Prices “Across the Board”
  • Week Ahead: Numbers, Numbers and More Numbers
  • The Rearview Mirror: All That the Name Implies
  • Top Tips for Improving EV Range in Cold Weather
  • Mercedes is First Automaker to Offer True Level 3 Hands-Free Driving System in the U.S.
  • Audi Introduces Fourth “Sphere” Concept: Activesphere
  • Jaguar Land Rover Posts First Profitable Quarter in Two Years
  • Musk Confirms Cybertruck Production Tracking for End of 2023
  • Polestar Raises its Game with the 2024 Polestar 2
  • Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda Steps Down, Hands Reins to Lexus Chief Koji Sato
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Z71
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus UX 250h F Sport
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 300 4Matic
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride Concept Could Deliver 620 Miles on a Tank of Hydrogen

        Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride Concept Could Deliver 620 Miles on a Tank of Hydrogen

        Barely longer than Prius, fuel-cell vehicle boasts Mercedes S-Class-sized interior.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Oct. 18, 2017
        Toyota's Fine-Comfort Ride concept coming to the Tokyo Motor Show demonstrates the maker hasn't given up on fuel cells.

        Though Toyota appears to be shifting some of its considerable resources into the development of battery-electric vehicles, the automaker isn’t walking away from its commitment to hydrogen power – as it plans to demonstrate at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show with the debut of the Fine-Comfort Ride concept vehicle.

        The prototype is barely a foot longer than the familiar Toyota Prius but because of the distinctive powertrain, the layout offers about as much interior space as a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Meanwhile, with an estimate range of 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles between fill-ups, the Fine-Comfort Ride would deliver about twice the range of Toyota’s current production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the Mirai.

        Tech Talk!

        Toyota is billing the Tokyo Motor Show concept vehicle as “a new form of premium saloon,” and says it wants passenger to feel like they are “being wrapped in comfort,” rather than simply go along for a ride.

        (GM talking with U.S. Army about developing new fuel-cell vehicle. For the story, Click Here.)

        Though the automaker apparently left out some details from a news release issued ahead of the biennial Tokyo show, it hints at integrating an “Agent function,” which suggests it will offer autonomous and AI capabilities, in line with another prototype, the Concept-i, it will show off later this month. That model features artificial intelligence capable of reading a motorist’s emotions, Toyota said.

        As for the Fine-Comfort Ride, “The Agent function and the touch display are arranged around the driver and passenger seats,” Toyota says, somewhat cryptically. “The seats allow for flexible adjustment according to posture, and the displays allow the driver and passengers to freely access information. The seat layout can be flexibly adjusted, so Fine-Comfort Ride can be used as individual space or as a communication space for individuals.”

        Toyota's Fine-Comfort Ride fuel cell-powered concept car can travel more than 600 miles before refueling.

        While there is certain to be plenty of smart technology available in the cabin, what’s particularly intriguing about the Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride, however, is its powertrain system.

        The six-seater boasts a next-generation fuel-cell stack. While details are scarce, it appears that all key hardware has been moved, either to the vehicle’s corners or under its floorboards. Significantly, the Toyota concept adopts in-wheel motors, allowing the wheels to be moved right to the corners of the vehicle.

        (Click Here for details about Toyota’s efforts to work with Japan on pushing fuel cells.)

        The entire vehicle measures just 190.1 inches nose-to-tail, or about 11.8 inches longer than today’s fourth-generation Toyota Prius. Its wheelbase is 135.8 inches, meanwhile, and because of the extraordinarily short overhangs, it features a cabin that is longer – and wider – than an S-Class.

        A number of automakers have been toying with the idea of using wheel motors. The question is whether Toyota is signaling it may be ready introduce them into production.

        One other question likely to pop up during the Toyota news conference at the Tokyo Motor Show on Oct. 25, what sort of storage system the Fine-Comfort Ride is using? Hydrogen needs to be compressed at great pressures to deliver any substantial range – typically 10,000 psi with vehicles like the Toyota Mirai and the competing Honda Clarity FCV.

        Toyota wants passengers in the Fine-Comfort Ride to feel like they're being wrapped in luxury, not going for a ride.

        A range of 620 miles would not just make it possible to go for long drives – and possibly for weeks at a time – without fueling up, but would help address the fuel-cell vehicle’s equivalent of range anxiety. There are only a few dozen service stations offering the gas to the public in the entire U.S. right now, and not many more in Japan, though that country, as well as the state of California, are both pushing to develop a more robust hydrogen infrastructure.

        (Click Here for more on Toyota’s fuel-cell truck project.)

        Unless and until that happens, skeptics caution, hydrogen power is likely to remain a fuel of the future.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2023 Mustang Mach-E

        Ford “Significantly” Raising Production of Mustang Mach-E While Reducing Prices “Across the Board”

        Today
        New cars

        Week Ahead: Numbers, Numbers and More Numbers

        Today

        The Rearview Mirror: All That the Name Implies

        Jan. 28, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: