Toyota Announces Launch of Fuel Cell Bus Concept

Toyota Motor Corporation have announced the launch of the Sora which is a Toyota fuel cell (FC) bus concept with plans to launch sales of a commercial model based on the concept vehicle in 2018 and also expects to introduce over 100 Sora within the Tokyo metropolitan area ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. Toyota developed the Sora (acronym for Sky, Ocean, River, Air) with two goals in mind; to make best use of the characteristics of the FC unit and to enhance the comfort of passengers. The Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS) was originally developed for the Mirai fuel cell vehicle and has been adopted to deliver superior environmental performance with no CO2 emissions or Substances of Concern. The Sora is equipped with a high capacity external power supply system which provides high output and a large capacity of electricity supply and can be used as an emergency power source following disasters. During the design of the bus itself, Toyota had convenience, safety, and peace of mind at the top of the list and aim to give all passengers a good riding experience. Horizontal seats with an automatic storage mechanism is featured, while eight hi-definition cameras fitted inside and outside detect pedestrians and bicycles around the bus. The adoption of automatic arrival control detects the guidance line on the road surface and utilizes automatic steering and deceleration to stop the bus with approximately 3 to 6 cm of clearance from the bus stop. The Sora concept bus will be displayed at the 45^th Tokyo Motor Show which gets under way on October 25^th.