Lexus Showcases Hydrogen-Powered UTV Concept

It is no secret that Lexus's parent, Toyota, has been a big proponent of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. And as its luxury brand, it has now unveiled a UTV concept which is powered by a hydrogen-powered combustion engine. It is called the Recreational Off-Highway vehicle which is basically an off-roader that burns hydrogen instead of petrol or diesel. It hasn't shown off a lot but it does borrow some styling elements from Lexus' cars and SUVs with the spindle grille at its front. 

Apart from fuel cells, there can also be hydrogen-based combustion engines that haven't seen much traction. This comes after Lexus showcased a race car with a hydrogen fuel-inline 3 cylinder engine that even competed in a Japanese endurance race. This again isn't a new idea as in 2006 BMW had shown off a 7-series sedan with a hydrogen V12 engine with the main modification made to the V12 from petrol to hydrogen involved fuel storage and injectors. 

The vehicle uses Hydrogen as fuel but it also has a combustion engine

Hydrogen combustion engines have some notable issues. Burning hydrogen in a combustion process produces toxic nitrogen oxide emissions and the process of making hydrogen and distributing and then transferring the energy to the car is very inefficient. So, it pollutes and the mileage isn't great. 

That's why even Toyota has mostly focused on fuel cell-based hydrogen vehicles that are propelled by electric motors - like in the case of the Mirai. But the bigger challenge with hydrogen is the lack of infrastructure to produce it at scale for the sake of transportation and the general lack of fuel stations. Hydrogen production can also result in a lot of greenhouse gas generation.