Toyota & BMW to Solidify Partnership to Expedite FCV Development

Group 1 - Toyota Motor Corporation and BMW AG are expanding their collaboration on fuel cell vehicles to enhance the competitiveness of hydrogen-powered cars, with an official announcement expected on September 5, 2024 [1] - Under the new partnership, Toyota will supply key components such as hydrogen tanks and fuel cell systems to BMW, which will manufacture and sell mass-produced fuel cell vehicles in the coming years [1][2] - The partnership aims to standardize components and reduce production costs of fuel cell vehicles, which have faced challenges in popularity due to high costs and affordability issues [2] Group 2 - Toyota launched the world's first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, in 2014, but has sold only about 26,000 units due to its high price of over 7 million yen compared to the average car price in Japan of 2.64 million yen in 2023 [3] - BMW has developed a concept fuel cell vehicle, the iX5 Hydrogen, which features two hydrogen tanks and offers a range of over 310 miles with a refueling time of 3-4 minutes [4] - The expanded alliance is expected to focus on developing hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, where there are currently only 270 hydrogen filling stations compared to 632,000 public battery electric vehicle charging stations as of the end of 2023 [4]