1,000 vehicles to be forcibly replaced! Toyota was suddenly boycotted by more than 120 scientists

Automotive Business Review Magazine

2024-07-22 16:06Posted on the official account of BAIC Business Review

Written by Tu Yanping

Editor / Huang Dalu

Design / Zhao Haoran

来源 / hydrogeninsight，by Leigh Collins；autonews，by Georgia Hall

Cars honked their horns on crowded streets, excited spectators lined up on the banks of the Seine, and in the hustle and bustle of Paris, Toyota's fuel cell vehicles were making their way through the noise of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Brock Cartlidge, Sponsorship Marketing Manager at Toyota Sports, said: "You won't be able to miss Toyota cars in the city of Paris during the Olympics. ”

Toyota, the IOC's global mobility partner, is going all-in on the fourth "Start Your Impossible" advertising campaign. From hybrids to fuel cell vehicles to collaborations with athletes, Toyota will invest heavily to showcase its innovation and commitment in mobility at the Olympics.

However, an open letter came out of nowhere.

A group of 123 scientists, academics and engineers wrote an open letter to the organizers of this summer's Paris Olympics, calling for the replacement of the Toyota Mirai hydrogen vehicle with an all-electric vehicle as the official vehicle for the Games.

"We are writing this letter to express our concern that Toyota's promotion of hydrogen vehicles is scientifically incompatible with zero emissions, which will damage the reputation of the 2024 Olympics," the scientists wrote. ”

1000辆Mirai

In recent years, the Olympic and Paralympic Games have increasingly promoted sustainability, and the Toyota Paris Electric Vehicle Team fits perfectly with this environmentally conscious agenda.

The Japan automaker announced last September that it would provide 500 Mirai for runners and staff to ferry between venues, which will be operated alongside 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses.

Toyota has now provided 2,650 electric passenger cars for use during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, transporting athletes, officials, volunteers and spectators around the city. The Athletes' Village will also be equipped with 50 electric scooters.

In addition, Toyota plans to introduce 10 different uses of hydrogen fuel technology throughout the competition. This includes leasing hydrogen-powered city buses to Paris, as well as providing modified tour buses for Toyota's hospitality events.

There will be more than 1,000 Mirai hydrogen-powered vehicles on the streets of Paris, 500 of which are designated as part of the official fleet of Paris 2024. The Toyota Crown FCEV will be used as a marathon car, and the prototype FCEV Hilux will support the Olympic equestrian events.

Sponsoring the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a hugely expensive undertaking for Toyota, both on the ground and in the air, but it provides a unique opportunity for Toyota to reach a large audience.

More than 3 billion people tuned in to watch the Tokyo Olympics, almost half of the world's population. And Paris is seen as a more favorable time zone for broadcasting, with higher viewership expected.

boycott

"Toyota is using the Paris Olympics to promote hydrogen cars, buses, and other hydrogen vehicles as a solution to climate change. This is not scientifically consistent with net-zero emissions. David Cebon, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight Transport at the University of Cambridge, explains.

"We believe that Toyota's promotion of hydrogen vehicles in this way is very detrimental to international transportation decarbonization efforts, as billions of people around the world watching the Olympics will be exposed to false and misleading information."

In the open letter signed by more than 120 scientists, David Cebon's signature came first.

"The opportunity to change course remains, and we urge you to ask Toyota to replace the Mirai as the official vehicle for the Olympics with a battery electric vehicle (BEV)," the letter reads. ”

The letter goes on to explain several reasons why hydrogen cars are a bad idea, including:

They distract from the "real solution available today" (i.e., BEV) and create the risk of delayed implementation;

Green hydrogen fuel cell vehicles require three times as much renewable electricity as equivalent battery electric vehicles and operate at least three times as much as battery electric vehicles;

Renewables are best used to decarbonize the grid;

Today, almost all hydrogen is made from fossil fuels, and emissions continue unabated. Fuel cell vehicles using this grey hydrogen "will actually end up producing 30%-50% more emissions than using fossil fuels in the first place, depending on the application";

The vigorous promotion of hydrogen vehicles at the Olympics "will inevitably delay the promotion of pure electric vehicles and undermine the process of energy transition";

Hydrogen vehicles "have already failed around the world, including during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics".

It explained: "Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that 'hydrogen-powered cars and buses will run in cities, and the athletes' village will use hydrogen to generate electricity. Despite the hype, the reality of the 2020 Olympics is that the high cost and lack of hydrogen supply means that only a handful of hydrogen-powered buses run short routes. The hydrogen used in these buses is considered grey hydrogen, which makes emissions from the well to the wheels worse than using diesel alone.

The letter concludes: "We urge the IOC to mandate Toyota's conversion of official Olympic vehicles and the entire Olympic team to 100% electric vehicles at the 2024 Olympic Games. ”

refutation

Proponents of hydrogen vehicles argue that despite the higher upfront purchase costs and higher operating costs, hydrogen vehicles have a longer range on a single hydrogen charge than BEV vehicles, and they also refuel at a faster rate than BEV vehicles, making them very useful for people who need to travel long distances quickly.

According to hydrogeninsight, France Hydrogène, a France trade agency, subsequently refuted the scientist's open letter.

"Hydrogen vehicles are a viable solution as long as they can serve uses that battery-powered cars cannot," the agency said. ”

It states that hydrogen can meet many use cases that cannot be addressed by battery-powered vehicles, especially in the decarbonization of heavy-duty and intensive transport.

"Vehicles based on these two technologies are necessary to successfully decarbonize road transport, and hydrogen is particularly well positioned to meet the needs of users who face significant operational constraints (the need for autonomous driving, fast charging, transporting heavy loads – passengers or goods – climate constraints, etc.)."

The counter-argument echoes the original open letter's statement that the need for renewable energy should be tripled. It says: "When a user encounters a poor experience with a vehicle, does he ask himself a performance problem with the vehicle? No, the question is to know if the technology meets the requirements for use. ”

"Given the need for autonomy, operational constraints such as intensive use (e.g., those famous taxis in the Ile-de-France region) or heavy transport, hydrogen vehicles are the only ones that can offer a satisfactory zero-emission solution."

France Hydrogène added that the round-trip efficiency of green hydrogen-powered vehicles, implied in the original open letter, does not take into account "the recovery of heat and oxygen generated during hydrogen production", nor does it take into account the fact that electrolyzers are able to consume electricity from variable and intermittent renewable energy sources and thus play an important role in grid flexibility.

Replacing hydrogen's "decades-old manufacturing process" with decarbonisation production technologies will take time and support, the agency said.

It also said that FCEVs and BEVs "do not compete in terms of transport decarbonisation, but both are necessary for the decarbonisation of large-scale road transport" due to different use cases.

"Hydrogen-powered road transport makes sense because it meets the demand. The fleet of taxis operating in the Île-de-France region is a concrete example: it is the largest taxi fleet in the world, with 700 vehicles, which will soon reach 1,000. ”

"The services they provide on a daily basis are highlighted at an important global event, and at the same time, battery-powered vehicles will also be a showcase for this decarbonized transportation, which is positive for maintaining the mobilization needed to combat climate change, which is becoming increasingly evident around the world."

farewell

I don't know how Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda will feel when he sees the joint letter from scientists. And Toyota's hugely expensive Olympic sponsorship seems to be nearing completion.

A few months ago, Toyota said that the Paris Olympics would mark its farewell to its status as the exclusive mobile sponsor. Under a deal valued at $835 million in 2015, the world's largest automaker has the global rights to collaborate and prohibit other automakers from sponsoring the national team throughout the Olympics.

Rick Burton, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University, said the global transportation sponsorship category has historically been the most expensive and largest of the Olympic sponsorships. "If the Olympics lose Toyota and it is almost impossible to replenish it immediately, it will have a serious impact on the IOC's operating budget," he said. ”

In May, Japan's Kyodo News reported that Toyota didn't like the way the I.O.C. used its sponsorship funds. Kyodo News Agency, citing sources "close to the matter," said that the funds "were not being effectively used to support athletes and promote sports" and that Toyota was moving on to end its exclusive sponsorship.

Now that a joint letter of 123 people has been issued, Toyota's determination to bid farewell to the exclusive sponsorship of the Olympic Games should be even greater.

View original image 129K

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•